Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, has bemoaned the greatly inadequate number of relief trucks sent into the Gaza Strip.
Speaking at a news briefing in occupied East Jerusalem, Lazzarini said, “Many of us saw in these trucks [entering through Rafah border crossing] a glimmer of hope.”
“This is, however, becoming a distraction,” he added.
“These few trucks are nothing more than crumbs that will not make a difference for two million people in the streets,” Lazzarini averred.
The UNRWA Commissioner-General called for a humanitarian ceasefire.
“We should avoid conveying the message that a few trucks a day means the siege is lifted for humanitarian aid; this is not true. The current system in place is geared to fail.
“What is needed is meaningful and uninterrupted aid flow and to succeed we need a humanitarian ceasefire to ensure this reaches those in need. This should not be too much to ask for.”
Philippe Lazzarini
Lazzarini noted that there have been intense negotiations and endless diplomacy to open a humanitarian supply line.
“So far it has only resulted in a handful of aid convoys,” he said, adding that it will not reverse the fact that “Gaza is being strangled.”
“The people of Gaza feel shunned, alienated and abandoned,” he iterated.
Additionally, the UNRWA Chief disclosed that at least 57 UNRWA workers have been killed, stating that 15 of them were killed in a day.
“We are almost three weeks in this war and people are turning their despair to UNRWA. This is normal; we are the face of the international community, the same international community which seems to have turned its back to Gazans.
“It pains me that humanitarian aid, a very basic right for people, is constantly questioned while at the same time despair is livestreamed.
“Our aid operation is crumbling and for the first time ever, [my colleagues] report now that people are hungry. Civil order is collapsing and anger starts to channel towards my colleagues – how long can we last? I don’t know, but certainly no more than a few days.”
Philippe Lazzarini
World Urged Not To Equate Gaza With Hamas
Moreover, Lazzarini said that deeming Gaza as equal with Hamas is “very dangerous and misleading.”
He stressed that it is “an equation aimed at dehumanising people, aimed at making the unjustifiable justifiable.”
He added, “Keeping our humanity means showing that the people in Gaza deserve our empathy and compassion.”
“No one can claim, ‘I did not know’ as images, footage and voices of unspeakable suffering continue to come out by the hour from Gaza. We cannot any more turn a blind eye to this human tragedy.
“Millions of people especially in Gaza are asking, why the world does not have the will to act and put an end to this hell on Earth? They deserve an answer. Delaying it will deepen the polarisation in this region and increase the risk of spillover.”
Philippe Lazzarini
Lazzarini warned the death toll in the besieged enclave will rise as a result of Israel’s ongoing “total blockade” of the Gaza Strip.
“People in Gaza are dying – they are not only dying from bombs and strikes, soon many more will die from the consequences of [the] siege imposed on the Gaza Strip,” he said.
He iterated, “Basic services are crumbling, medicine is running out, food and water are running out, the streets of Gaza have started overflowing with sewage.”
READ ALSO: Tentacles Emerge As U.S Retaliates
