On The Humanitarian Situation Amidst The Ongoing Genocide In The Gaza Strip And Repeated Targeting By The Occupation

Since the beginning of the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, the General Directorate of Civil Defense and the Union of Municipalities in Gaza have warned of worsening humanitarian crises and increasing threats to the right to housing and life. Despite this, the occupation continues to exacerbate the suffering of the local community by persisting in its genocidal war, despite the risks of displacing nearly two million people and violating their civil rights.

The onset of winter, coupled with the occupation's restriction of what it claims to be humanitarian space, places the community in a large prison akin to Nazi ghettos, where communities were besieged and then killed by various means. This has further intensified the humanitarian suffering, as the occupation continues to practice killing, displacement, siege, and the denial of essential supplies like water, fuel, and shelter that provide a dignified life. Especially given that it has destroyed more than 85% of the infrastructure and urban areas across the entire Gaza Strip.

The role of international humanitarian organizations is to assist specialized agencies in humanitarian intervention and civil protection, particularly during wars and conflicts, and to support them with the necessary resources to continue their humanitarian work.

Since the beginning of this war, humanitarian service providers such as Civil Defense and local authorities in Gaza have faced significant challenges. The failure of international institutions to fulfill their duties has exacerbated these challenges, especially since the efficiency of emergency humanitarian response vehicles and equipment of local authorities does not exceed 40%. Despite this, we have continued to respond to all humanitarian missions since the start of the war.

The area that the occupation claims to be humanitarian includes flood-prone and low-lying areas that could drown more than 50,000 families living in valley streams, along the seashore, and in water collection ponds, threatening to displace citizens. Added to this is the occupation's, and later international organizations', neglect in providing tents for the displaced, which are piling up at the crossings and are being prevented from entering by the occupation. We need to supply a quarter of a million tents, one million mattresses, blankets, winter clothing, and urgent humanitarian response supplies.

We emphasize that the continued international neglect in providing the necessary support to humanitarian response service providers in Gaza will severely increase the inability to meet the emergency calls from citizens.

In light of this, we call upon the United Nations Secretary-General to work on meeting our needs for equipment, spare parts, and fuel to alleviate the growing shortage of the resources required for our operations.

We also urge the International Committee of the Red Cross to fulfill its mandated role under the Geneva Conventions and to pressure the occupation to improve the conditions for humanitarian response efforts.

The challenges we face require international organizations to fulfill their obligations according to international humanitarian law. In line with United Nations charters, these organizations are required to:

1. Press the occupation to stop the genocide and cease targeting humanitarian intervention and civil protection teams, of which more than 1,000 have been killed by the occupation forces.

2. Provide our essential fuel needs to ensure the continuity of our humanitarian services.

3. Work on opening the crossings and allowing the entry of aid related to the needs of the displaced community in winter, such as tents, tarps, clothing, blankets, and food and health assistance.

4. Accelerate the provision of Civil Defense and local authorities with the necessary equipment, vehicles, and pumps to speed up humanitarian response operations.

5. Ensure the opening of safe corridors for the continuous flow of humanitarian aid without the direct targeting of security personnel under baseless pretexts.

6. Provide spare parts for the equipment and vehicles of humanitarian response service providers to allow the continuation of humanitarian intervention teams’ work.

Palestinian Union of Municipalities in Gaza General Directorate of Civil Defense
Wednesday, September 18, 2024

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