Since the Hamas terrorist atrocities of 7 October 2023, the
International Development Committee has held three urgent
evidence hearings in Parliament, and Members of the Committee
recently returned from the aid logistics centre and hospital at
Al-Arish in North Sinai where some badly injured Palestinian
civilians have been evacuated for care.
But the vast majority of the population of Gaza, including those
working for international aid agencies, have been unable to
leave.
Instead the population has followed sequential instructions to
move out of areas designated for “clearance” by Israeli military
air, sea and ground offensives, under what is described by the
WHO as “constant bombardment”. The UN OCHA reports that over 1.7
million Gazans - 75 per cent of the population - have been
internally displaced, and very many of those will not have homes
to return to once the fighting stops.
Well over half of the population are now reported as sheltering
in the last designated “safe space” at Rafah, on the border with
Egypt. The Committee is urgently publishing this report ahead of
the 10 March deadline (the start of Ramadan) that has been set by
Israel for the return of its hostages, before it extends its
offensive into Rafah.
NGOs and UN organisations have explained how their operations are
severely limited by the scale of destruction in Gaza. The
deconfliction system is not working and aid workers have been
killed and injured in their duties. At the time the Committee
visited, it was taking 20-25 days for a truck to travel the 30
miles from the Egyptian Red Crescent warehouse in Al Arish into
Gaza. NGOs spoke of almost ‘malicious’ bureaucracy, which saw
trucks turned back for carrying just one item potentially
perceived as for dual use - although it was not explained what
that one item was, nor why it was rejected.
Current border restrictions will make it impossible to avert a
famine: described in evidence to the Committee by the World Food
Programme as already a real and present risk, with numbers of
hunger-related deaths rising. The UK Government must make it an
absolute priority to get sufficient amounts of food – “massively”
more than at present - into Gaza. This will give certainty to the
population there and ease issues such as the security of aid
workers and the organised criminal activity growing up around
attempted aid deliveries. It means Israel opening up existing
crossings, providing a more streamlined entry system and
communicating about why goods are being returned.
UNWRA is by far the biggest provider of aid and wider public
services in Gaza, as well as its functions in the West Bank, and
the Committee urges that that the serious and disturbing
allegations against some of its workers are investigated and
quickly resolved so that its funding can be restarted and its
critical work can resume. The Committee is clear that
unless there is a lasting ceasefire, the unprecedented - in the
view of expert evidence from senior and seasoned international
humanitarian professionals - catastrophe in Gaza will continue to
escalate. Any ceasefire of less than 30 days would not allow
enough aid in, nor give time for medical and aid workers to get
the required visas.
Those providing aid – professionals who have seen much suffering
in war and disasters around the world – have testified there are
not words left to describe what is happening to civilians in
Gaza. These passionate, normally eloquent people are left
speechless and say they feel powerless after what they have
witnessed: not least the speed, the intensity and the fact that
the situation is so obviously 100 per cent man-made.
, Chair of the
International Development Committee, said: “In war we
expect the deaths to be men of fighting age. In Gaza they are
overwhelmingly women and children, this raises questions and
serious concerns.
“The Committee heard compelling evidence that breaches of
international law are taking place, on both sides. We received no
reassurance that healthcare workers, medics or facilities are
being proactively protected. Not even a fraction of the needed
aid is entering Gaza to prevent famine, and there is no way that
can even begin to happen in the current conditions.
“Meeting people fleeing Gaza and those who have been working
there, the true horror of what is happening is hard to hear. We
know maybe ten percent of the story, but let me be clear, there
are two million stories of suffering and the UK Government must
do all within its power to hold those responsible to account and
stop the violence on both sides now.
Notes:
1) The Committee last met in Parliament on
Tuesday 27 February with representatives of the World Health
Organisation and World Food Programme (Dr Richard Brennan,
Regional Emergency Director for Eastern Mediterranean Region at
World Health Organisation and Matthew Hollingworth, Country
Director, Palestine at World Food Programme).
1a) Dr Richard Brennan, q90,
transcript 27 February 2024: Like you, Madam Chair, we find it
hard to come up with the appropriate adjectives. Like Matthew, I
am a humanitarian veteran. I have been in this field for 31
years. I rarely use the term “catastrophic”. We have been using
it with respect to Gaza since November. I do not know what is
after catastrophic. Ambassador Satterfield, at a meeting with us
three weeks ago, described the situation as beyond catastrophic.
We are all pushed to come up with words and descriptions that can
really convey the gravity of the situation from the humanitarian,
public health and other perspectives.
2) Here you can find all the
oral and written evidence
and correspondence in this inquiry, including the latest,
from the Embassy of Israel
dated and published 28 February
