By Euronews AP
Published on
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Palestinians in Gaza stated that aid packages delivered by Israel and other nations on Sunday, as well as the dozens of aid trucks that entered the enclave, were insufficient and had not reached the more than two million people in the population.
Maryam Yahya, a displaced woman from Rafah now living in Zawaida, said, “We haven’t seen any aid coming in from land, air, or anywhere else.
“Here we are, sitting by the road, receiving nothing. We sit in tents like beggars, waiting for a kilo of flour, and no one brings it to us.”
Israel has implemented daily 10-hour “tactical pauses” in three areas of Gaza to allow limited humanitarian access. However, the United Nations (UN) stated that these temporary pauses are insufficient due to the risk of looting. The World Food Programme (WFP) has called for reliable corridors and consistent access to deliver aid on a larger scale.
Yahya mentioned, “We used to receive aid from UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). They no longer give it to us. If they had handed it over to UNRWA, they would have brought it to us. When UNRWA delivered aid, we never lacked anything.”
Ahmed Al-Sumairi, a man from Khan Younis now displaced in Central Gaza, stated, “Aid is delivered by air. People are afraid of leaving their tents in case a box drops on their children.”
“Many have died due to aid dropping on tents. On the ground, there is no ceasefire… The situation remains the same: a siege, no food or drink.”
“They call it a ‘temporary ceasefire,’ but we don’t see it as a temporary ceasefire. We see bombing everywhere,” said Mohammed Al-Sumairi, displaced from Khan Younis and now living in a tent in Zawaida.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel would allow “minimal” aid to enter Gaza after images of emaciated children faced criticism of Israel. Leaders of France, Germany, and the UK made a new plea for a ceasefire in Gaza after Saturday’s incident.
Israel claims that it has restricted the level of aid entering Gaza because Hamas diverts it to strengthen its rule, although they provide no evidence.
The Israeli Defence Forces stated that 28 aid packages containing food were airdropped into Gaza on Sunday. They have also announced further measures to establish secure routes.
The UN World Food Program declared that they have enough food in Gaza or on its way to feed the entire population for nearly three months. It stated that a third of the territory’s population were not eating for days and hundreds of thousands were suffering from famine-like conditions.
