Humanitarian crisis in Gaza
“In the street, children are looking for flour, mixed with sand”
A humanitarian mission head tells survival and testifies to an untenable situation. When food distributions become “massacres”.
An MSF vehicle crosses the ruins of Jabaliya, north of the Gaza Strip.
MSF
- Humanitarian aid is struggling to reach civilians with only four operational distribution centers.
- The threat of famine that hovers over Gaza brings together the health and life of pregnant women and newborns.
- More than 90% of hospitals are now out of service.
It is extremely difficult to obtain reliable information from the gaza bandswhich remains completed. Céline de Richoufftz experienced the situation on the ground. Since June, she has coordinated a project of doctors without borders (MSF) in the city of Gaza.
Friday, the Geneva went to Amman, Jordanian capital, where we were able to maintain ourselves with her. The political scientist has already intervened in other conflicts. But Gaza is very different, she says. The supply system has collapsed, and the few remaining distribution centers undergo bombing. The medical staff are exhausted. According to MSF observations, deliberate deprivation of food has grown unprecedented.
Mme From Richoufftz, what particularly marked after spending a month spent in Gaza?
People’s face. Emptiness in their eyes. In the street, children are looking for flour, mixed with sand. People are literally fighting to get food. Gaza is out of breath. The population is confined to a fraction of the territory, or less than 12% of the total area. There is almost no more water, no more electricity, no more medicines, and Nothing to eat anymore. It is not a “collateral damage” of the conflict, but a targeted starving strategy.
You have already intervened for MSF in other humanitarian crises. Is the situation in Gaza different?
Yes. I went to Iraq, the central Mediterranean, Ukraine. But there … I have never seen anything like it. They are not only injured or sick, but also our own employees. They arrive at work the empty belly. In the evening, they go home and have nothing to eat to their children. It’s overwhelming. At the same time, a feeling of helplessness dominates.
What is your work?
I was responsible for coordinating MSF projects in the city of Gaza. We manage a maternity unit, two medical dispensaries and a first aid care center. We focus on premature care, surgical interventions, wound treatment, malnutrition and mental health. My job was to ensure the safety of our staff, coordinate procedures and maintain help at all costs in an extremely dangerous area.
To what extent do the supply chains work?
It’s dramatic. A few weeks ago, basic food products were tearing up at gold prices: 80 dollars per kilo of sugar, 30 to 60 dollars per kilo of flour or potatoes. Today there is nothing left. Market stalls are empty. Even people with a little cash can no longer buy anything. The rare deliveries are struggling to reach civilians. Only four Official Israeli army distribution centers now remain operational. Before the war, there were 400. Today, two million people are to obtain themselves in these four highly militarized places.
Céline de Richoufftz at her workplace in Gaza: “The situation of the supply is dramatic, even we, humanitarian workers, must ration our food.”
DR
What exactly is going on?
People travel long distances on foot. Often eight or ten kilometers, even at night because the food distributions are irregular. The distribution centers are surrounded by barbed wire. There is only one entry and only one outing. The distributions sometimes last eight minutes and during this time, hell is unleashed. Our teams in the surrounding clinics take care of dozens of injuries every day. There are also dead. We shoot the civilian population. In recent weeks, more than 900 people have been killed when they just came to get a bag of flour. These are not humanitarian distributions. These are massacres.
Israeli authorities claim to undergo attacks in these areas. Can you confirm this?
One thing is certain: in these so-called “safe distribution places”, people are systematically killed by the very people who should protect them, namely the Israeli armed forces and their mercenaries. It is not always possible to determine precisely who opens the fire, but these areas are clearly under Israeli control and monitored by private armed security forces.
Hamas is accused of diverting humanitarian aid.
This thesis is absolutely not confirmed and in no way justifies the massacre which takes place at the distribution points. Israeli authorities do not intend to meet the needs of the population. They use this allegation as a pretext to cause a food shortage and advance their military objectives. There is little transparency on what is happening in these places. Only Palestinians broadcast videos of what is happening there. It is impossible to check this kind of thing, even by being there. However, you should know that these distribution points are entirely under military control. It is impossible to go there with a weapon.
Food is distributed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundationan American-Israeli humanitarian organization created last February.
She claims that food distributions are a humanitarian initiative. It is not only false, it is also extremely dangerous. Because it is absolutely not a humanitarian aid. Humanitarian aid is based on the principles of impartiality, neutrality and independence. Gaza Humanitarian Foundation does not respect any of these principles. We should not have to cross mines or to sneak between tanks and snipers to get help.
What is the impact of malnutrition?
It has irreversible consequences. Children, the elderly and pregnant women are particularly affected. We are witnessing premature births because mothers are undernourished. The injuries do not heal, for lack of protein. Some children could have been normally saved, but they have no chance in this context. In our clinics, we had to review our medical criteria, because we cannot save everyone. It is not medicine. It is war medicine.
Several infants share a incubator: in the pediatric intensive care unit of the Al-Helou hospital, north of Gaza, children have practically no longer access to care.
JOHANNE PERRY/MSF
Are there still working hospitals?
Over 90% of Gaza hospitals are destroyed or out of service. Only the emergency services remain, where wounded arrive every day. Chronic diseases and malnutrition become almost impossible to treat. Our teams are doing their best, but we are sorely lacking in equipment, drugs and electricity. The generators do not work because there is no petrol. If a incubator breaks down, the child dies.
What to do? What do you ask?
We must return to distributions coordinated by the UN, which directly reach people in need. And you need a lasting ceasefire agreement. We, humanitarian organizations, have the knowledge, resources and expertise necessary to deal with such a crisis. But we cannot work in such conditions, and even less under a constant bombardment.
In recent days, the Israeli army has again ordered evacuations, this time in Deir al-Balah. How do you live these repeated forced trips?
People were warned a few hours in advance. They take the strict necessary, often for the fifteenth or twentieth time. Then they take refuge in overcrowded areas, devoid of infrastructure, drinking water and all protection. Some of our colleagues had to flee this way. The inhabitants live in an extremely limited space, under a permanent threat. Even there, there is no security. The bombings do not stop.
What do you remember from this mission?
A broken heart. It is difficult to abandon colleagues and friends in such distress. We feel guilty. As if they were betrayed. You have to take their voices and testify, do not look away. Residents of Gaza have an urgent need for food. But they are also hungry for dignity.
Translated from German by Emmanuelle Stevan
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