Statement from Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian
Refugee Council (NRC):
“Nearly three weeks have passed since Hamas launched an appalling
act of terror on Israeli civilians. Since then, images of
suffering families in Israel and Gaza have filled our
screens.
“Countless and completely innocent Palestinians now face
indiscriminate and devastating Israeli bombardment and total
siege. They are deprived of shelter, medical care, and even
drinking water. This collective punishment brings endless
suffering to civilians and costs thousands of lives.
“While we get increasingly desperate pleas of help and protection
from our aid workers inside a sealed-off Gaza, world leaders have
been incapable of producing anything that would end or even
alleviate this hemorrhage of innocent lives: No humanitarian
ceasefire – not even a humanitarian pause; no humanitarian
corridors; no lifting of the suffocating siege. We have witnessed
a few trucks arrive to limited parts of Gaza, both totally
insufficient and without supplies of essential fuel. This is not
a humanitarian response worthy of nations and leaders who claim
to respect humanitarian principles and international law.
“By failing to live up to their responsibilities to protect
civilian life on all sides, leaders are not helping to break the
vicious cycle which condemns future generations of Palestinians
and Israelis to yet more conflict and death.
“World leaders must immediately call for a humanitarian ceasefire
to end the suffering and restart the process that can address the
root causes of generations of deprivation, conflict, terror, and
occupation. History will be watching.”
