YASMEEN EL-HASAN
SENA EĞRI
El-Hasan is with the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Palestine. Eğri is with Filistin için Bin Genç / “A Thousand Youth for Palestine” in Turkey.
Both are part of the International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Palestine, which recently stated: “Strong winter winds and heavy rains, particularly in Northern Gaza, are contributing to the suffering and death of Palestinians as their tents and makeshift living structures break down, blow away or are inundated with mud and floodwaters. One month after the start of the ceasefire that promised 600 aid trucks a day, including fuel, bulldozers for clearing rubble, construction materials, tents and mobile homes, Israel continues to prevent the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza from receiving these and other necessary supplies such as food, clothing and medicines. Since the ‘ceasefire’ began on January 19, Israel has continued bombing Gaza’s buildings and infrastructure. Israeli forces have also killed at least 132 Palestinians in Gaza, including three Palestinian police officers who were shot while coordinating the entry of aid trucks through the Rafah border crossing.
“A recent report by the Euro-Med Monitor finds that the trucks being allowed into Gaza are mostly carrying non-essential items such as snacks for sale in stores. Around 250,000 homes have been destroyed and there is a severe shortage of tents. Only 9,500 of the promised 120,000 tents have been allowed in, and they are mostly small, and of poor quality. People are forced to find shelter in the rubble of bombed out buildings. 85 percent of the water infrastructure has been destroyed but no materials for rebuilding the water system have been allowed in. The amount of fuel arriving each day is woefully insufficient to meet the needs for emergency services. Israel is preventing the delivery of heavy machinery necessary to find and move corpses and to clear the streets, as well as machinery to replace what was destroyed in the hospitals.”
Yasmeen El-Hasan of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees – Palestine warns, “The upcoming winter storm will severely exacerbate the current humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. This catastrophe was entirely avoidable, but the Israeli occupation deliberately manufactured these conditions, targeting and destroying the infrastructure necessary for survival.” She adds, “ Even now, after the ceasefire, the occupation continues to violate the terms of the agreement and prevents Palestinians from accessing necessary resources. The Israeli occupation must immediately lift the siege on Gaza, and Palestinians must have access to humanitarian aid. The Palestinian Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC)’s emergency intervention campaign, Stop Gaza Starvation, has been supporting our communities throughout the genocide and continues to do so.”
Sena Eğri with FIBG states, “1.7 million displaced Gazans are struggling to survive in makeshift tents, because of Israel’s ongoing illegal blockade preventing mobile homes and humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. With torn and soaked shelters, roads turning into mud, freezing temperatures, their survival is at immediate risk. And it’s not just Gaza — Palestinians in refugee camps across the West Bank are also in grave danger. Nur Shams and Tulkarem camps are under heavy attacks by the occupation forces, and relentless rain and fierce winds will leave people exposed and defenseless. Tents will collapse, roads will be blocked, diseases will spread. This is another humanitarian disaster in the making.”