UNRWA has said that it has been able to provide food for 90 percent of the population in Gaza since the ceasefire began [Mahmoud Issa/Anadolu via Getty Images]
International aid agencies have slammed Israel’s blocking of aid deliveries to Gaza, accusing it of imposing “collective punishment” on the enclave in violation of international law.
The reimposition of the blockade, which began the day after Ramadan began, was announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, which also called on Hamas to accept a US-backed extension of phase one of the ceasefire. The proposal would see half of the Israeli captives remaining in Gaza released.
Hamas, however, said that Netanyahu’s “decision to suspend humanitarian aid is cheap blackmail, a war crime and a blatant coup against the agreement.”
Israel and Hamas were meant to begin negotiations on phase two of the ceasefire on 3 February, although Israel has refrained from sending a full negotiation delegation to mediating countries.
Oxfam called the decision “a reckless act of collective punishment, explicitly prohibited under international humanitarian law.”
“Humanitarian aid is not a bargaining chip for applying pressure on parties, but a fundamental right of civilians experiencing urgent need in challenging and life-threatening circumstances,” the NGO added.
Likewise, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) also slammed the blockade as collective punishment, adding that the decision was also “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”
“Its return to ‘total siege’ should be resolutely condemned by the international community, including the UK government, which must now take immediate action to ensure aid access is fully restored and international law enforced.”
Mohammed Alkhatib, the NGO’s Deputy Director of Programmes in Gaza said, “it is a continuation of mockery of humanity, and double standards towards the civilian population of the Gaza Strip, and the world is still standing by watching.”
The Office for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said “we’ve been clear that aid must get into Gaza, so it must not be blocked,” and called for a “sustainable ceasefire”.
Several Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and mediators Egypt and Qatar condemned the decision, with Jordan warning that the action could reignite fighting.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has facilitated exchanges between Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners, echoed those warnings.
Its President, Mirjana Spoljaric, said that “unraveling of the forward momentum created over the last six weeks risks plunging people back into despair.”
“Every effort must be made to maintain the ceasefire so that lives are spared from hostilities, humanitarian aid enters Gaza, and more families are reunited,” she added.
The Israeli government has defended the move, however, with spokesperson Daniel Mencer accusing Hamas of hoarding supplies and claiming that there is “enough food to fuel an obesity epidemic.”
Likewise on Sunday Gideon Saar, the Israeli Foreign Minister, called reports of starvation in the enclave by aid agencies earlier in the war “a lie”.
UNRWA Spokesperson Jonathan Fowler told The New Arab that the language used by Mencer was “appalling”.
“This idea that somehow there’s a massive stock of beautiful food all over the Gaza Strip is a total mischaracterization,” he said, adding that enclave’s humanitarian crisis has only partially been alleviated by the ceasefire.
Folwer said that since the beginning of the ceasefire UNRWA has been able to get food assistance to 90 percent of Gaza’s population, restore clean water to half a million people, and attempted to restore sanitation and street cleaning services, work which could become undone by the blockade and a return to war.
Moreover, he warned that a resumption of war, could inhibit the activity of UNRWA, which is Gaza’s main aid organisation and provides the “heavy lifting” for the UN, in particular because of legislation passed in the Knesset banning UNRWA activity in Israel.
“We face the specter that, because we’re not allowed to have any kind of contact with the Israeli authorities, we’re no longer able to do what’s known as deconfliction, where we can’t operate to the degree of safety required to do humanitarian operations.”
“The risk of moving back into a situation of humanitarian operations during active warfare is just so much more difficult because of that.”
258 UNRWA workers have been killed since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has seen widespread destruction on the enclave including on basic infrastructure like housing, hospitals, and water and sanitation facilities.
Over 61,000 people have been killed in the war, according to Gaza’s government media office, which includes thousands that are missing under the rubble and presumed dead.
