Andrea De Domenico, head of OCHAThe Palestinian Army Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territories recently spent three weeks in the enclave, where more than a million people have fled the southern city of Rafah due to the intensification of Israeli military operations, the Palestinian Refugee Agency said. UNRWA.
Briefing journalists in New York, Mr De Domenico added that the operating environment for humanitarians also remains dangerous and challenging, despite cross-party engagement.
Hands tied
“Sometimes I wonder if the humanitarian operation in Gaza is being paralyzed by design. We try to save lives every day, but… the reality is that our hands have been tied behind our backs from the very beginning” he said from Jerusalem.
“We used to say months ago that someone had broken our legs and now suddenly asked us to run. I think we learned to run with crutches, if you like, and now they’ve taken away the crutches too.”
Relief convoy fired
He also pointed out the difficulty of not only bringing aid to Gaza, but then delivering it to those in need, such as women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities, all amid security, safety and security challenges and logistics.
“Unfortunately, we are once again experiencing the breakdown of public order,” he said.
“Two days ago we had the worst of our experiences bringing in goods, with almost 70 percent of the convoy we were able to put together for that day not reaching its final destination because it was intercepted by mainly criminals, but also desperate people.”
© UNRWA
More families flee Rafah as military operations intensify.
‘A wave of people’
Mr De Domenico shared what he said are five images that stick with him from this latest visit to Gaza, including “the forced transfer of people” who thought they had found refuge in Rafah but are now seeking safety elsewhere. Among them are an estimated 20,000 pregnant women.
“As of today, it is impossible to move from Al Mawasi, where some of our buildings are located, to Khan Younis or Deir al Balah without literally navigating a wave of people who are everywhere,” he said from Jerusalem.
The journey, which would normally take about 15 minutes, is now taking an hour as more and more people head north “taking everything they can gather, packing it into donkey carts and piling it up to incredible heights.”
He also recalled driving along the coastal road one day and seeing dozens of Gazans on the coast. He heard they were there to cool off, given the high daytime temperatures in the tents where they now live.
“By doing this, they also took the opportunity to wash themselves there is no other way for people to maintain proper hygiene,” he said.
The social fabric is eroding
“This intensity of living conditions is gradually eroding the social fabric of the Gaza community,” he continued.
Recalling the people’s “formidable” hospitality, he said even the poorest families would find a way to “bring something to the table” for visitors. Furthermore, social bonding between immediate and extended family members is fundamental in Palestinian society.
“What we see more and more often is that this fabric is gradually being destroyed, with the rule of the strongest becoming the sole rule, simply because there is so little for people to survive that only the strongest have access to it.”
He was told about a dispute between two brothers over a can of chickpeas. The two families no longer talk to each other “and lose that network of mutual solidarity and support that is essential in a situation of desperation like this.”
Living conditions are further exacerbated by the lack of basic amenities and access to simple tools, materials and equipment, even just for cooking meals.
A “very, very acrid and strong” odor permeates the air around mealtime as families burn plastic, garbage or whatever they can find to use as fuel instead of cooking gas, he said.
Violence and constant trauma
Mr De Domenico also spoke about the aftermath of the deadly Israeli airstrike on May 26 that hit a displaced persons camp in Rafah and caused a fire that killed many people. Ambulances transported the dead and injured to field hospitals concentrated along the Al Mawasi area.
He said a director at one of the field hospitals told him that Among the charred bodies were that of a man still hugging his young daughter. The medical staff tried to separate them but were unable to do so. The only option would have been to break their bones, which he said they refused, and leave them together “in this last and eternal hug.”
Reflecting on the overall violence in Gaza, Mr De Domenico wondered how children there will recover from “this unimaginable and difficult to describe situation of constant trauma that they have to go through”.
‘Giant’ health efforts
Nearly 36,000 people have been killed and almost 80,000 injured in Gaza so far, he said, citing figures from Gaza health authorities.
Addressing the embattled health care system, he noted that “the fact that we have to rely on field hospitals… means that these people can only be treated under suboptimal conditionsdespite the tireless efforts of the medical teams deployed around the world.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) has made “gigantic efforts” to restore or maintain services in the Central Area and Khan Younis, he added, while Rafah no longer has any functional hospitals.
Humanitarians have faced “gigantic challenges” bringing tents, tarpaulins and other shelter materials to Gaza. They also estimate that 36 sites of the Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, where displaced people were housed, have been lost.
Meanwhile, the amount of solid waste that has piled up along the streets is “impressive.” He explained that landfills are generally located on the margins along the fence towards Israel or Egypt “and those areas are absolutely inaccessible,” so alternative locations are being sought.
© WFP/Ali Jadallah
Families in Gaza struggle to find enough food.
Take care of children
Mr De Domenico said that around 600,000 children have not gone to school since the start of hostilities on October 7, and there are no recreational activities for them, except what local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have managed to improvise.
“The reality is that we have very little to offer, and therefore the very exposure to this violence and these very harsh living conditions that I’m sure I’ll mark this generation of kids for the long haul,” he said.
Praise for humanitarians
The senior official commended local and international NGOs for their commendable efforts in the face of the many obstacles and dangers in Gaza.
Humanitarian teams are rotated in and out of the enclave via the Kerem Shalom crossing in UNRWA vehicles, using only international drivers. A recent attempt by a convoy of seven vehicles was aborted at the last minute after a 13-hour wait for the green light.
“Even to reach that place, we have to take a road that is considered a safe road. despite the fact that we have been repeatedly caught in crossfire,” he said.
