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OCHA - Press Conference: Humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territory - 18 March 2024
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Press Conferences , Edited News | OCHA
OCHA - Press Conference: Humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territory - 18 March 2024
STORY: Humanitarian Coordinator OPT
TRT: 2:54”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 18 March 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley
- Wide shot: speaker at the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. for the oPt (speaking from Jerusalem): “The IPC mentions that famine is imminent if the steps are not taken. But I would also say that for a lot of young children there, especially the under two year olds, who have shown some serious signs of malnutrition, dehydration and anemia and pregnant mothers and new mothers, I think that the damage to the development potential of a lot of these young people has probably been affected in something they might never ever recover from and reach their full potential.”
- Medium shot: moderator at the podium during the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. for the oPt (speaking from Jerusalem): “This one IPC records the highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger ever recorded by an IPC anywhere at any time in the world. So, it shows the severity of that, especially in the north part of the country, where over 70 per cent of the people are in real difficult circumstances there.”
- Wide shot: Journalists in press room
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. for the oPt (speaking from Jerusalem): “The environment we're working is very, very uncertain, unstable. We're not sure how to plan for more than 48 hours, 72 hours because of the uncertainties there. And with the fear of a Rafah incursion, it makes it all the more difficult. If there is a some sort of humanitarian pause or some sort of ceasefire in the future, obviously, we'd like to exploit that.”
- Medium shot: Camera woman filming
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. for the oPt (speaking from Jerusalem): “The very low number of trucks that we get in, the 200 trucks, is far smaller than the 500 before October seven, and with very little in the way of private sector it will be very difficult for us to actually do anything meaningful unless we can scale up very, very quickly. And that means opening up as many borders as we possibly can.”
- Medium shot: journalists in the press room
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. for the oPt (speaking from Jerusalem): “We would rather spend time getting the roads opened, get the roads graded because they've been heavily destroyed by the military activity and by the weather. And we'd also have to look at the unexploded ordnance to be removed as well. And having all roads and all entry points to the north and elsewhere open, that is the best way to address the humanitarian crisis, the famine that you mentioned is imminent, as the report indicates.”
- Close up, journalist in press briefing room
- Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. for the oPt (speaking from Jerusalem): “We haven't been allowed by Israel to bring in sufficient ability for us to communicate with each other. And we are sending people on convoys to the north into quite hostile areas, and we have no means of tracking them, no means of talking to them if something untoward was to happen. So, while Israel talks about enabling environment, I just have to point out some of those facts.”
- Medium shot, technical staff monitoring briefing
- Medium shot, journalists listening
STORYLINE
GAZA: Famine is imminent as half of Gaza experience catastrophic food insecurity, warn UN humanitarians.
The latest food security report from the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) on war-ravaged Gaza published on Monday indicates that more than half of all Palestinians in Gaza –1.1 million people– have completely exhausted their food supplies and are facing catastrophic hunger.
“The IPC mentions that famine is imminent if the steps are not taken. But I would also say that for a lot of young children there, especially the under two year olds, who have shown some serious signs of malnutrition, dehydration and anemia and pregnant mothers and new mothers, I think that the damage to the development potential of a lot of these young people has probably been affected in something they might never ever recover from and reach their full potential,” said Jamie McGoldrick, U.N. aid coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, speaking from Jerusalem to journalists at the United Nations in Geneva.
He added that “this one IPC records the highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger ever recorded by an IPC anywhere at any time in the world. So, it shows the severity of that, especially in the north part of the country, where over 70 per cent of the people are in real difficult circumstances there.”
Palestinians in Gaza are enduring horrifying levels of hunger and suffering. The IPC report noted that virtually all households now skip meals every day in Gaza. Adults have reduced their meals so that children can eat.
The IPC acute food insecurity analysis conducted in December 2023 warned of a risk that Famine may occur by the end of May 2024 if an immediate cessation of hostilities and sustained access for the provision of essential supplies and services to the population did not take place. Since then, the conditions necessary to prevent famine have not been met and the latest evidence confirms that Famine is imminent in the northern governorates and projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May 2024.
“The environment we're working is very, very uncertain, unstable. We're not sure how to plan for more than 48 hours, 72 hours because of the uncertainties there. And with the fear of a Rafah incursion, it makes it all the more difficult. If there is some sort of humanitarian pause or some sort of ceasefire in the future, obviously, we'd like to exploit that,” said the UN’s aid coordinator.
Particularly concerning is “the very low number of trucks that we get in, the 200 trucks, is far smaller than the 500 before October seven, and with very little in the way of private sector it will be very difficult for us to actually do anything meaningful unless we can scale up very, very quickly. And that means opening up as many borders as we possibly can,” Mr. McGoldrick emphasized.
In reply to a journalist question about aid deliveries via airdrops and maritime as alternatives to the limited road access, Mr. McGoldrick said that “we would rather spend time getting the roads opened, get the roads graded because they've been heavily destroyed by the military activity and by the weather. And we'd also have to look at the unexploded ordnance to be removed as well. And having all roads and all entry points to the north and elsewhere open, that is the best way to address the humanitarian crisis, the famine that you mentioned is imminent, as the report indicates.”
The only real way to get heavy loads of material, food and others into all parts of Gaza would only be by road, Mr. McGoldrick emphasized.
To allow more aid deliveries by trucks, as many borders as possible would need to be open, and there’s also a need for additional crossing points towards the north.
“We haven't been allowed by Israel to bring in sufficient ability for us to communicate with each other. And we are sending people on convoys to the north into quite hostile areas, and we have no means of tracking them, no means of talking to them if something untoward was to happen. So, while Israel talks about enabling environment, I just have to point out some of those facts.”
-ends-
Teleprompter
Good afternoon, everyone.
Welcome to this press briefing, which is hosted out of the UN headquarters in Geneva
we have with us today Jamie McGoldrick,
who is with us in his capacity as humanitarian co ordinator,
the interim for the occupied Palestinian territory.
He joins us from Jerusalem, and I can see Jamie on the screen
there.
We have half an hour, after which she has another commitment.
So we will stick to that.
Mr.
McGoldrick will set us off with some introductory remarks,
and then we'll take your questions.
Those who are in the room or online.
Just raise your hand and we'll get to you in the order that you raise your hand.
So with that, I will hand over to Mr McGoldrick in Jerusalem.
Yeah, thanks a lot, Jens. Um, I was in Rafah Gaza last week.
Um, I went there on my usually week weekly visit for two days.
Um, I spent some time in Rafah before heading to Gaza to the north Gaza City.
I hadn't been in Gaza City since 2019,
and I were back this time to have a look
at the conditions there to go to Shifa Hospital,
et cetera.
I I was shocked by the the the state of
the buildings and the conditions of the roads and the infrastructure
I.
I didn't recognise any landmark, uh, since and I was, like,
there regular up until 2019, 2020.
So it was incredible.
The amount of this industrial scale destruction of that place.
Um, I we spoke to a lot of people there regarding how to get more aid into Gaza.
Uh, because it's been without aid for such a long time,
it has been, uh, very,
very little in the way of convoys of food
aid and other medical supplies or fuel into Gaza.
And I wanted to hear from, uh,
some of the the community leaders and some of the NGOs
there to find out how the situation was for them.
And, uh, we came up with, hopefully some way forward,
how to improve the security and the distribution of goods inside Gaza.
As you know, uh,
there have been a lot of looting and self distribution has been
taking place at Kuwaiti junction and elsewhere by young men in particular.
And, uh, a lot of the aid is not getting through to the most vulnerable.
So uh,
that was one thing I think we're We're making
some headway on how we can make that happen.
The second thing I did was when I was there. I went to Shifa Hospital.
I used to go there regular, especially during the Great March of return.
And, um, I met with Dr
Marwan and his colleagues there and saw myself firsthand,
Uh, the conditions inside the hospital.
The hospital has been badly affected by the hostilities,
and we're here today again.
There is more hostilities in and around the hospital as well.
There was quite a lot of displaced people there a lot,
although a lot less than I expected.
Um, I visited the operational parts of the hospital, which there are not many
because they are running on very little fuel.
And, uh, the generators, uh,
they used to conserve energy used only sparingly in some parts of the hospital.
But the places that I went to where the obviously the emergency
room and places where people are recovering and the operation rooms.
That's the sort of three areas that were, uh, the most functioning.
While I was in the Shifa Hospital.
There was a young man lying on the floor who'd just been shot in both legs.
He was lying on the floor. There were no bed space for him.
He was then later carried in a blanket to
the operating theatre where he was operated on.
I then went around some of the other, uh,
hospital areas to see people who had recovered from
injuries and who had been affected by the hostilities.
There was a young girl there who
you couldn't recognise her face. She was so badly burned.
Uh, she had been caught up in an airstrike and it burned
the the building she was in. And she and her siblings
were injured and some of them died.
Um, I then went next to another young girl who was She was down syndrome,
and she was on the bed with her mother.
And she had an infection.
Her lungs, which her lungs were basically filling up with fluid.
And in fact, she was drowning in her own, uh, her own body.
And there was no way the doctors were there trying to find a way of
addressing her issues, but they couldn't.
The only way it could be done is to be transferred to another hospital
and because the mother was on her own and she had her own Children,
other Children
she couldn't understand or couldn't work out a way of taking that child
to another place. So bottom line is that child will not survive much longer.
And Rafa itself.
Um, every time I go there,
you normally see it getting more and more congested in the urban area.
But surprisingly, now you see the numbers going down because people are
fearing the possibility of a Rafa
incursion.
And, uh, that will be a real worry for them, obviously, who are moving away to Alma
WASI and other areas.
Alma
WASI, um currently has about 400,000 IDPs displaced people.
So it's not an area that can can accommodate many more people who will come there.
And, um,
the other thing is the fact that this is the
entry point for all of our assistance into Gaza.
And if there was to be an incursion, that would be that system we have,
which is already precarious
and, uh, intermittent would then be broken.
And the fact that we don't have much in the way of,
um, a lot of stocks inside Gaza because the supply chain is so weak
that, um, for us to build up stocks is virtually impossible.
As soon as the goods come in
the 200 trucks a day or whatever the case may be, it's not enough to satisfy the the
the numbers that we have to address.
And so as soon as goods come in, they don't get stored anywhere very for very long.
They're two or three days stock at any point in time,
and we then distribute them either in the southern part of Gaza or to the North.
and so it would be a really difficult scenario for us to envisage the
possibility of hundreds of thousands of people
being forced from Rafa because of the incursion
to go to other areas.
We are not in a position to contingency plan
that we're not in a position to preposition,
uh, shelter, material, food,
medical supplies and and especially water during this very, very hot period.
So
it will be a real problem for us. And, um,
we've heard,
you know, lots of stories in the press.
Now, these they call these humanitarian islands,
and, um, that's meant to be some sort of plan that, uh,
the Israeli authorities have to move people from Rafah
for the incursion and move to these areas.
Well, for us,
that's not something the UN will participate in
because we're not part of any forced displacement.
Um, however, we know that if people do move,
we'll have to follow them and bring as much attention and
support as we can all over however difficult that will be,
um, the the environment we're working is very, very uncertain. It's unstable.
Um, we're not sure how to plan for more than 48 hours, 72 hours
because of the uncertainties there.
And with the fear of AAA Rafa
incursion, it makes it all the more difficult
if there is a some sort of humanitarian pause or some sort of ceasefire in the future.
Obviously we'd like to exploit that. But again,
because of the very,
low number of trucks that we get in the 200
trucks is far smaller than the 500 before october 7th.
And with very little in the way of private sector,
it will be very difficult for us to actually, uh,
do anything meaningful unless we can scale up very very quickly,
and that means opening up as many borders as we possibly can.
It means getting the the fence road, the military road,
that to be more operational than it is.
It's already started to have the beach roads and also the middle road, which is
Slade
Road, To be fully, um, to be fully working
and then Karem
Shalom itself would have to be increased in capacity is
limited because of the scanning possibilities they have there.
They can scan about 253 100 trucks a day.
We would have to get them work more hours in the
day and allow us to bring more trucks in there.
Um, and so and at the same time, there's there's a need for more additional, uh,
crossing points.
Ashdod in the north.
Coming directly into the North would be a real help because you can scan in
in Ashdod and allow the stuff to come in and inspections taking place there,
and equally if we could get the the Jordan Pipeline opened
in a much bigger way than it is at the moment.
We're roughly about 50 trucks a week, and we need about 20 or 30 trucks a day.
Those trucks can be scanned directly in, uh, in Amman or in Allen Bay,
and then can come directly by road and use the military road without coming through
Kerim
Shalom.
In that way, I think it would help us greatly in in the sense of
it would help us bring more in and without clogging or log jamming.
What's happening in Kerim
Shalom?
Um, we hear and we see a lot of, uh,
news about air drops and we see the this idea of maritime as possibilities,
we would have to say that, you know, the only real way to get heavy loads of material,
food and others into all parts of Gaza would only be by roads.
Um, air and maritime are not alternatives.
They're they're probably, I mean, additions to the roads,
but they can't be seen as alternatives to,
So we have to put that in perspective.
We were lucky yesterday that the the road, the military road on the east side of Gaza,
was open for us to have 18 trucks from WFP and others
to deliver assistance into the north,
and that was very helpful. But it's not
consistent because, like on Thursday.
Last week we had 16 trucks lined up, and they were then postponed.
And that road wasn't to be able to use until the Sunday
So we have to get all roads open and get
all opportunities open for us to to actually do,
uh, more into the current situation,
but at the same time to to do it in a way that actually exploits the possibility
of a humanitarian pause or best place us in a way that we can deal with any
Rafi
incursion that takes place.
We know that the I PC report is coming out, and, uh, we see that, um,
that report shows quite clearly that, um,
more than half the population of about 1.1 million people
exhausted all of their food supplies.
And we also see that the this a case where the I PC methodology and the science and
the used in that is has been used in so many places in other parts of the world.
And it's been seen as a well
tested and well used and very reliable way
of measuring what's happening in terms of food,
insecurity, of populations in difficult circumstances,
and this one actually records the
highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger
ever recorded by an I PC anywhere at any time in the world.
So it shows you the severity of that, especially, um,
in the north part of the country,
where over 70% of the people are in real difficult circumstances there.
And then it should also be noted that there's no surprise
because we haven't had any great deal of sufficient stable
food supplies and other supplies into the North for months.
And that on top of living, extremely squalid,
unsanitary conditions with hospitals partly functioning with people, um,
relying on less than one litre per person of clean water a day.
It's no surprises that those numbers are there.
And, uh, the numbers they're saying is that if we don't address these problems,
don't address them properly.
That, uh, famine is imminent by some time in May.
Um, and it can be halted,
and we have to use all the best methods we have at our disposal, which is
all the trucks that we can get in there, all openings that need to be there,
and that's hopefully that will be the case.
We also need, uh, significant supplies of fuel for water and sanitation
for ensuring the hospitals can continue to function in a
way that's better than is the case at the moment.
And we also have to have it as the UN.
In order for us and our partners to do our work,
we have to have create an enabling environment for us to operate.
And
that's with, uh, safety. And with Deconfliction
and with the ability for us to deliver
assistance quickly and clearly into the area itself,
we have to get more food in there and prevent
in desperation from creating insecurity and self distribution and looting.
Um, so that's what's the thing we have to do.
So, um, I think I'll stop there and take questions, if that's OK.
Thank you so much. Jamie,
I have three
on my list, but first we go to the room for a question Here, please. Over to you.
Thank you very much.
My name is Satoko
Adachi.
I
work for
I want to ask about the, um the the confliction,
especially the, um, the northern Gaza.
I understand that the Palestinian police forces in Gaza have stepped down.
Um, because the, uh they are being targeted by the Israelis. So
who is actually E Co
the humanitarian aid convoy that, uh, actually going into the north.
And how is the
aid distribution actually working in the north? Thank you.
Should I take them one by one or Yes, please. Debbie.
Ok. OK, then.
Yeah. On on the question regarding Deconfliction.
Yeah, we've been trying to,
um we've been trying to get the the blue police back on track again.
As you know, there have been a number of incidents where the
blue, the blue police have been targeted by Israel because they regard them as, um,
part of the Hamas infrastructure.
so we are trying to find the best way suitable to have
delivery of assistance into the north and other parts of Gaza Strip.
Um, that's a combination of using, uh, community groups, et cetera,
and where we can use the police in a discreet manner as well,
in terms of escorting aid into the north.
Um, we, uh, used the military road yesterday, and that's on the Israeli side.
And we used the the IDF up to the point we came to Gaza, and then we connected.
We continued ourselves independently and then delivered
the the the actual aid up through,
sin
the road to where we offloaded it to various groups.
The distribution right now is it takes a number of different things.
There's ongoing self distribution, as you know, in some of these places,
like Kuwaiti Junction.
But in this case here, we were able to bring the rest of the trucks to Gaza City and to to
Jabalia. We are working with the community leaders. We're working with local
NGOs and local groups to set up distribution systems so that
we can make sure that we reach all the families concerned.
Thank you. Uh, then we'll go online first to Jamie Keen
from Associated Press and after that to Nick from The New York Times.
But first over to you, Jamie.
Uh, thank you. Uh, Jens and thank you, Mr McGoldrick for, uh, for coming to see us.
Um, I just wanted to, uh, I.
I kind of came in and out, but I just wanted to obviously you've seen the I PC, uh,
findings today in the World Food Programme.
Uh, comments about, uh, famine being imminent. Um,
and I just wanted to, um, try to find out specifically what can be done,
Um, to avert that eventuality.
I know that you kind of touched upon this,
but if that was your priority number one for North Gaza,
what can be done to To To To to avert that, uh, eventuality. And if I could just add it?
What could you describe a little bit about
how it it works with the Israeli authorities?
I mean, are they changing the goalposts? Are they,
um, giving you, like, extremely difficult criteria to be able to ship, um,
food in from from Israel proper?
Um, just can you kind of give us a description as to what they're telling you is,
uh is preventing, uh, the shipment of of of food in particular and water into, uh,
into north Gaza.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, Thanks a lot.
The well, actually,
the I PC is it mentions that famine is imminent if the steps are not taken.
But I would also say that
for a lot of young Children there,
especially the sort of under twos who
have shown some serious signs of malnutrition,
dehydration
and
anaemia in pregnant mothers and new new mothers.
Um, I,
I think that the the damage to the development potential of a lot
of these young people has probably been affected and something they might never,
ever recover from and reach their full potential.
But I think that, uh,
what what can be done is what should be done is that
we have to open up the gates of all roads and all possibilities
to get food in from Ashdod into the North, to use the military road, the middle road,
and to use the the the coast road to expand the
possibilities of private sector in as well so that we can get
back to close to the 500 trucks a day we need
rather than the 200 or so we have at the moment.
Unless we can put significant supply increases into those areas,
those people who are
catastrophic levels of, uh, uh, malnutrition or food insecurity will, uh,
face real serious problems.
Um, and imminent death. If that's not the case we have to have.
And it's not just food, it's health support. It's water.
It's nutritional targeting,
especially of vulnerable groups like some young Children.
In terms of the Israeli authorities, we've started to work with them, too.
As you can see, we've got one road new road open up the military road,
and we're trying to encourage them to allow us to get the middle middle road, the
Sachin Road.
And it's only through those discussions that we can
assure ourselves of getting more food into the north.
And then at the same time, we have to find ways of expanding the
point of goods into into Kem
Shalom.
Kem
Shalom
is the only avenue we have right now of bringing food directly in from
the outside, from Rafah
from elsewhere, a man into Gaza,
and it's significantly, not enough.
The scanning capacity is only up to 202 103 100 trucks a day,
so we have to find ways of, uh, expanding or getting alternatives.
The alternatives are
Ashdod and in Allenby in Jordan, where you can use Israeli scanners,
can use those to inspect the trucks and then
send them in directly without having to come round through
Karem Shalom again. And that's the way we have to move.
Thank you very much. Uh, Nick Cumming, Bruce.
And after that, Emma, far from Reuters.
Yeah, thank you for for taking the question. Um,
I wonder first if you could just say a little bit about what you have heard from
Israeli authorities about the you. You mentioned islands
where people could move from Rafah.
what are the What are the Israeli authorities telling you about that, and and how it
do you have any sense of a plan on their part to to get
people to move to these islands and and when that's likely to be implemented?
Secondly,
you know,
people have been talking about the need to open all
these roads and and access points for for weeks Now.
Um, why is Ashdod
not open? Why is the military road not being used consistently?
And what is holding up
the, um, delivery of aid from from Allenby at this point? Thank you.
Yeah, thanks very much. Um, yeah. I mean, the humanitarian islands.
We haven't heard too much about, um, other than what we've seen in the media.
We haven't had a briefing on these yet.
We've had in the talk before on some other possibilities.
There was human, humanitarian tented villages.
I know this is a new, uh, humanitian Islands I.
I honestly don't know where they are supposedly being established.
Um, for who they'll be established.
Is it north of the Wadi Gaza or south of the Wadi Gaza?
And, uh, how will they move people from, uh, wherever they are now to these villages,
it will be pushed, forced, encouraged.
Or will it just because of evacuation?
If the evacuation of, uh, the incursion takes place in, um, in Rafah
I I to be I was with you.
I don't know that there's enough tents in
this in the worldwide market to accommodate people.
And I don't know if there's enough space being created for anything
to accommodate a number that we might see coming out of Rafa.
So we're hoping to get more information on
what those plans are for the Rafa incursion.
And she said,
there's any possibility of us being better prepared
in order for us to preposition material,
um, in areas. Uh, but I, I would say it's it's a big ask from that side.
Um I mean, we've been calling you, as you said,
opening for all the roads and including all the entry points around and into Gaza.
Ashdod, I think, is partly because of,
um you know There's a sort of an optic of seeing that goods come in from Israel, um,
from
Ashdod.
But it's a well functioning port.
It's, uh,
we've used it in the past for decades when we use it for supply material into Gaza.
And I hope it's something that comes back on stream again because it would be
a massive improvement to the numbers of trucks that we get at this point in time
and geographically.
In proximity wise, it's so close to Gaza it would make perfect sense.
Um, on the military road, I said, We've just started using that road and it is,
as you know, a military road.
So it's been used for other purposes other than,
uh, humanitarian.
And so IDF has to accommodate us to use that road,
so it's going to be something we will work slowly with.
But hopefully we can get a chance to use that in a way that
will help benefit the UN and other
partners to deliver systems quicker into Gaza because
that military road is not doesn't suffer the same congestion
and insecurity as you go through the Coast Road or the
Sloan
Road inside Gaza itself.
And, uh, hopefully, a man,
Jordan and the Allenby could be something again that gets ramped up.
And we're looking forward to Sigrid CAG.
Maybe her efforts to try and get that unlocked
at some point in the near future as well.
Thank you, Jamie. Uh, over to Emma Farge from Reuters and Imogen After that.
Uh, yeah. Thank you. Um, first of all, a clarification, please.
On, um, what you mentioned about security and community groups.
Uh, we're hearing about new popular committees,
which is sort of Palestinian clans and factions often wearing masks,
taking it upon themselves to secure aid to the north.
Are are we talking about the same thing? And and if not, could you just clarify a bit?
And secondly, um, I'm wondering about rejected aid, uh,
building up in warehouses in Al
Arish.
Just wondering. Is this a growing problem? Um, do you know how many tonnes are there?
And, um, are you raising this with Israeli authorities? Thanks a lot.
Yeah. Maybe just on that, we raise every single minute of every day we get a chance to.
We have a a focal point in our office who takes up all the time with, um
the Israeli authorities.
Um, you're right. In
a Arish,
there is a critical humanitarian items that are there.
And, uh, we we we've been finding it quite difficult to get some key issues.
A key commodities in
and sometimes these include medical, uh,
equipment sometimes include water and sanitation,
spare parts and chemicals to treat water, uh, for the distribution.
And then one of the bigger areas is the power generation.
Either through, um, you know, actual generators themselves or, um, solar panels.
We find it very difficult to get those in because
they're seen in the eyes of Israel as dual use.
Uh, we'll continue to work with them,
and hopefully we can get that addressed because
there's a massive amount of of goods in a
re warehouse and we are paying storage for it or not,
as donor funding is paying storage for it.
So we're hopefully going to get a chance to actually
get a a way of addressing how we can,
um, you know, take
So take all of the items out, which are, If they weren't there, uh,
we wouldn't be ordering them.
We we need them because they're part and parcel of our operations.
and our operations are suffering accordingly,
especially for powering and water and sanitation and the health elements as well.
Um, on on your question regarding the the clans. And
we're not working with clans and families in the different parts of of, um,
different parts of Gaza both north and south. We're working with local NGO S.
There's a P NGO That's pingo the Palestine National,
uh, national NGO body that we work closely with.
We've had partnership with them for a long time
and there's
30 or 40 accredited members that we work with
and where they are not present in the north, for example,
we try to look for people who have worked with
NGOs before
and we work with some of the local organisations and the the
community-based organisations where we can actually use that to be much more.
Get in good proximity to those people who need assistance and we use them uh,
directly
Thank you, Jamie uh, over to Imo
folks from the BBC. And after that Musa from Almay
in.
Uh, hi.
Thanks very much for taking my question 22 questions, I'm afraid, um,
you talked about an enabling environment now UNRWA of course
has the biggest infrastructure for Hu humanitarian work in Gaza.
Can it, um,
still function?
Because, I mean,
there's two things I've heard and my colleagues as well from
Israeli diplomats is one they don't want to work with UN,
R a anymore.
And the other is to again to do with enabling environment.
Israeli diplomats tell us that Israel has no limits on the aid that can go into Gaza.
you've been telling us, quite compellingly, that, uh,
pigs showing us a very different picture.
Maybe you could elaborate on that.
Yeah, maybe on the first one on UN R.
I mean, clearly, UN R a has been there for decades,
and it is the the backbone of all that we do in terms of infrastructure delivery,
distribution, even down to ID cards
and the food supply.
So, uh, it's an essential part of any operation that we have on the ground.
And to do anything to that to sort of curtail it or to hobble it would cause us
some really serious issues in terms of our ability
to serve where we can the populations in need.
So from our point of view, we see, uh UN, R A.
And the systems that UN R provide both to the UN family
and the broader humanitarian community as a critical component for us,
our ability to address the catastrophe,
the tragic humanitarian needs that are there,
um, on your, um the the second question, the enabling environment.
Um, you know, if it was
I mean, if it was, uh, an enabling environment, which was complete.
Uh, why would we discussing the limited road connections in there At the moment,
we've only just been able to get
military road open up. The
slain
road is not open at all.
And we only have, uh, the coastal road which has been opened all this time.
But there is a checkpoint at the Gaza the Wadi Gaza,
and we have a holding area where we've been kept many times,
and it has caused us problems and deconfliction
And, uh so the supply into the North has not been something that we've been
been able to address properly because of some of these restrictions.
There's also, um, you know, And if there was an enabling environment complete,
then why would we have the A
rich
store which is full of items which have been prevented from coming in.
And these are medical items, water and sanitation items.
There's nothing in there which is a threat.
And, uh So I would say that and then also say that that we ourselves, um, we have put
staff in situations where we're only now just
getting enough armoured vehicles to move around.
And secondly, we haven't been allowed by Israel to bring in sufficient, uh,
ability for us to communicate with each other.
Uh, we are sending people on convoys to the north into quite hostile areas,
and we have no means of tracking them.
We have no means of talking to them if something untoward was to happen.
So while, uh, Israel talks about enabling environment,
I just have to point out some of those facts to you.
Thank you very much. Uh, Musa
and may,
uh, Mexi, uh, Jan my question, Uh, uh,
regarding the delivering aid by sea from Cyprus to Gaza.
Uh, how do you see this? Uh, this process
there is some difference between, uh, before and then, uh, concerning the,
uh, the food situation in Gaza. And when you talk about the famine,
can you be please, uh very clear about the situation.
Uh, which risk, Uh uh, uh, we have today with the famine.
Uh, we are across the famine or, uh, the gaza, especially in northern end of Gaza.
There is, uh, uh, The famine exist. Thank you.
Yeah, thanks.
Um, on the the question regarding the the the the maritime issue,
there are three maritime elements.
There's the first one, which was this weekend, which is the world
central kitchen, which brought a boat of 200 metric tonnes. That was 10 truckloads
and that went south to Dira
Ballet.
Um, there is another one that's coming on track in the next couple of weeks,
which is the one that, uh,
president and Biden mentioned was called the floating harbour.
And that's something which is meant to allow goods to
be brought onshore from some sort of temporary harbour,
uh, established on the sea and trucks will come in.
And then the third one is the longer standing one, which is the The alma
project is something which Cyprus is currently having meetings this
week on to discuss how that can be established.
That will take some months and much longer term.
Um, I, I don't see the the maritime as being an alternative to the roads,
and that's something we have to get away from.
Um, it's, uh, I, I would say in some cases, maybe it's a bit of a form of a
a humanitarian public relations and some of these issues, um,
the roads are the only way you can move massive amounts
of food which are needed in the north and elsewhere,
and the roads have to be cleared.
And we ought to use all the roads rather than building a new port.
If we have, um, Ashdod
port in the north is quite close to Gaza.
Uh, I don't understand why we need to build another port when that one's there.
And I would say that, um, from our point of view,
we we would rather spend time getting the roads opened,
getting the roads graded, uh,
because they've been heavily destroyed by the
military activity and by the weather.
And we'd also have to look at the unexploded ordinance to be removed as well
and having all roads and all entry points to the north and elsewhere open.
That's the
the best way to address the humanitarian crisis.
The famine that you you you mentioned is imminent.
As the report indicates,
it will be coming up sometime if conditions exist and
continue sometime between now and the middle of May.
According to that there,
I think that, um there are many border crossings into Gaza,
and yet we barely see a trickle of aid.
And, um
and that's been interrupted so many times.
The obvious crossings remain largely closed to the humanitarian assistance.
And nothing moves aid faster and in greater volume to a population in need than a
fleet of heavy trucks and the use of all the roads that are available to us.
So we would encourage that to be the
conversation rather than be distracted by something else.
Thank you, Jamie.
I hope we can keep you just for a couple of more
minutes so we can give the floor to Robbie from a FP.
OK, last question. I have to go.
Yes.
Great. Thank you very much for your time. I was hoping that
you could describe the sanitation conditions that you observed
in Rafa and elsewhere during your recent visit.
What problems is the lack of garbage collection Garbage
disposal creating after more than five months now.
And is there any kind of plan or capacity to address it?
Thank you.
Yeah, thanks very much.
I mean, sanitation is one of the key drivers for the nutrition.
There is no crisis, the health crisis.
And I would even say, um, the food insecurity as well.
Um, people are hungry,
but they're they're even more hungry because
they're they're not in good condition.
The immune
immune systems are being affected by the living conditions.
People are living in very squalid, overcrowded conditions, uh,
with very little in the way of potable water that they can afford to buy,
or it can be delivered to them, especially in some areas.
And these squalid conditions have turned out where you've got, um, with surveys.
We do,
um, in families.
They see that the the prevalence of
diarrhoea or stomach infections that are happening.
There's also the fact that you get hepatitis A, uh, breakout,
which is a clear indication of overcrowded and unsanitary conditions.
And in terms of garbage collection, there is no garbage collection basically,
at the side of the camps at the side of the roads, there are piles of of used, uh,
you know, papers, plastic, uh, tins, remnants of food, et cetera.
And that lies there.
And it is, obviously, is, uh,
it will create worse conditions in terms of sanitation.
We have to find a way.
And I know some of the UN agencies are looking to find a way of taking
that, uh, the garbage disposal and take at UNICEF and others U NDP.
And hopefully there'll be a possibility of having
a system in place that takes that away.
Because it just adds to the problems of lack of food, lack of access of health,
lack of real targeted nutrition for Children,
therapeutic and supplementary feeding,
and ultimately, just the the lack of good clean water and sanitation.
And because the the power plants are not working and because of
the water and sanitation systems are broken or in need of repair.
we don't have the ability to turn that into
something which is better than the current situation.
Thank you so much, Jamie. For your time, we will let you go now.
So thanks to Jerusalem.
Thank you.
And thanks to everyone following online, and that wraps it up here from Geneva.
Thank you.