The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | OCHA , OHCHR , UNICEF
Gaza key Rafah crossings closed - OCHA, UNICEF, OHCHR 07 May 2024
STORYLINE
Gaza aid choked off by closure of key southern border crossings
Amid ongoing uncertainty about a ceasefire in Gaza and an escalation of the military operation in the southern city of Rafah, UN aid agencies expressed deep concerns on Tuesday that the two main access points into the Strip remained closed, while families are scared and “hanging on psychologically and physically by a thread”.
Gaza is “choked off” from aid warned Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN aid coordination office, OCHA. “We currently do not have any physical presence at the Rafah crossing, as our access to go to that area for coordination purposes has been denied by COGAT, he told journalists in Geneva, making reference to the Israeli agency that oversees Palestinian civilian affairs. “Currently, the two main arteries for getting aid into Gaza are currently choked off.”
UN humanitarians estimate that the enclave has only a one-day buffer of fuel stocks. “If no fuel comes in for a prolonged period of time, it would be a very effective way of putting the humanitarian operation in its grave,” the OCHA spokesperson insisted.
Israel's military took control overnight of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, a vital entry point for humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip from the Egyptian border. The incursion comes after Hamas said it had accepted a Gaza ceasefire proposal by Qatar and Egypt, but Israel said it would continue talks while pushing ahead with Rafah military operations.
The border closure is a blow to efforts to maintain the flow of food, medicine and basic supplies to keep Gazans alive. The World Food Program has warned the northern part of the Strip is already experiencing “full-blown famine.”
A warning echoed by James Elder, from UNICEF, who questioned “how aid agencies could avert famine across the Gaza Strip if the borders remain closed for an extended period.”
With the population of Rafah increasing fivefold, from 250,000 to 1.4 million people, the physical and mental health conditions for civilians have been deteriorating rapidly over the last seven months of war.
“Families’ coping capacity has been smashed,” explained Mr. Elder, UNICEF spokesperson. They are hanging on, psychologically and physically, by a thread. I do not recall meeting a single family in Rafah -and I met scores-, who hadn't lost a home or a loved one.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned against an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah saying it would be a ‘human catastrophe’ and reiterated his appeal to both parties to secure an ‘essential’ cease-fire agreement now.
Palestinian civilians under orders to evacuate eastern Rafah by the Israeli Defence Forces have described their fear and despair. More than one million Palestinians have fled to the city from other parts of Gaza since 7 October 2023.
“They must have access to aid where they go,” insisted Jens Laerke. “That is not the case, particularly in Al Mawassi, the major problem is that there's no infrastructure. What underpins a humanitarian operation is access to electricity, access to water and sanitation systems, sewage system and so on. That's not there,” he added.
The UN's human rights office warned that Israel has strict obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure the safety and access of the population to medical care, adequate food, safe water and sanitation. “Failure to meet these obligations may amount to forced displacement, which is a war crime,” said Ravina Shamdasani, OHCHR spokesperson.
Ends
Story: “Gaza vital Rafah crossings closed – OCHA, UNICEF, OHCHR” – 07 May 2024
Speakers, agencies spokespersons:
- · Jens Laerke, OCHA
- · James Elder, UNICEF
- · Ravina Shamdasani, OHCHR
TRT: 02’06”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 07 May 2024 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Geneva Press briefing
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley
- Wide shot of the podium with speakers at the press conference room
- SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “We currently do not have any physical presence at the Rafah crossing, as our access to go to that area for coordination purposes has been denied by COGAT (the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories). So that means that the two main arteries for getting aid into Gaza are currently choked off.”
- Wide shot of press room
- SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “If no fuel comes in for a prolonged period of time, it would be a very effective way of putting the humanitarian operation in its grave.”
- Medium shot: journalists at the press conference room
- SOUNDBITE (English) James Elder, UNICEF spokesperson: “It's hard to see, if that closes for an extended period, how aid agencies avert famine across the Gaza Strip.”
- Cutaway journalists in press conference room
- SOUNDBITE (English) James Elder, UNICEF spokesperson: “Families’ coping capacity has been smashed. Families are hanging on, psychologically and physically, by a thread. I do not recall meeting a single family – and I met scores – a single family in Rafah who hadn't lost a home or a loved one.”
- Wide shot of press conference room and control room
- SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “They must have access to aid where they go. That is not the case, particularly in Al Mawasi. The major problem is that there's no infrastructure. What underpins a humanitarian operation is access to electricity, access to water and sanitation systems, sewage system and so on. That's not there.”
- Cutaway: journalist taking notes
- SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, OHCHR spokesperson: “Israel has strict obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure the safety and access of these individuals to medical care, to adequate food, to safe water, to sanitation. Failure to meet these obligations may amount to forced displacement, which is a war crime.”
- Various shots of the press conference room
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR , WHO
The past two months of intensifying Israeli bombardment in Lebanon have been the “deadliest and most devastating” in decades as communities uprooted from the front line have continued to flee across the border to Syria, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
2
1
3
Edited News | UNOG
“State of Silence”: Diego Luna brings the fight to protect the press to the UN in Geneva
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna has brought his fight to protect journalists all the way to the United Nations, in Geneva. Together with documentary director Santiago Masa, he is putting a spotlight on the silencing of investigative journalism in his country, and on the incredibly high price that many journalist have to pay in pursuit of truth.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“Today marks the grim milestone of 1,000 days since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale armed attack on Ukraine. Our Office has verified that at least 12,162 civilians have been killed since 24 February 2022, among them 659 children. At least another 26,919 civilians have been injured,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurance told the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
With COP29 in Baku now in its second - and final - week, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has reiterated his call for urgent human rights-based climate action.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL , UNICEF , WHO
Lebanon: Increased violence along Blue Line and ‘horrific new normal’ for children
In southern Lebanon, peacekeepers have witnessed “shocking” destruction of villages along the Blue Line and ever-deeper Israeli ground incursions, while the situation of children across the country is becoming increasingly desperate, the UN said on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNRWA
The head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, confirmed on Monday that a large convoy of humanitarian aid was looted inside Gaza at the weekend, amid a near-total a breakdown in law and order and harassment of the agency’s staff by Israeli soldiers.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
In the nearly 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thousands of civilians have been killed, the country’s energy infrastructure is on the brink and drones terrify communities on the front line, the UN’s top aid official in the country said on Friday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna took a break from the big screen on Thursday to highlight the dangers faced by journalists in his country and beyond, condemning murders of reporters everywhere as “a scandal”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: ‘People are losing hope’ as aid access is refused to north, warns UNRWA
Besieged northern Gaza is a place of dead bodies lying in the streets and hospitals running out of blood packs – a situation that’s “nothing short of catastrophic”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence & Ajith Sunghay, Head of UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, on Gaza
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Sudan’s displaced have endured “unimaginable suffering” in their search for shelter from the country’s ongoing war, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘Exceptional achievement’: Humanitarians reach over 105,000 with polio vaccine in north Gaza
Despite ongoing attacks and access challenges, humanitarians have managed to inoculate over 105,000 children in north Gaza with the second and final dose of the oral polio vaccine, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.