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Palestine Red Crescent temporarily halts humanitarian coordination in Gaza as security concerns escalate

Palestine Red Crescent temporarily halts humanitarian coordination in Gaza as security concerns escalate
27 Feb 2024 00:05

ISIDORA CIRIC (ABU DHABI)


The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) on Monday announced a temporary suspension of all humanitarian coordination procedures for medical missions in the Gaza Strip, effective for 48 hours following the announcement.



The decision came amid escalating concerns over the safety and security of its emergency medical services teams, patients, and medical facilities, the PRCS said in a statement, adding that the Israeli forces have failed to uphold and follow previously agreed-upon commitments and coordination mechanisms with the United Nations’ organisations.



The suspension follows an incident where a PRCS medical convoy, despite being pre-approved and coordinated with the Israeli forces through the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), was intercepted and delayed for over seven hours. 



During this time, the convoy members, including medical staff, were reportedly mistreated, and three medics were arrested, with one later being released. 



“PRCS will assess this situation during the next two days to reach a conclusive result that enables it to protect its crews and their vehicles and to ensure that it will not be placed at risk of death or injury, through the intervention of active states in the international community to ensure this protection,” the statement added.



Humanitarian Aid Significantly Decreased



Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, reported that the volume of humanitarian aid entering Gaza saw a drastic reduction of 50% in February compared to January. 



The decline comes at a time when the need for increased assistance is critical, as over 2.2 million people face acute food shortage, while just under half a million face famine, according to a recent report by OCHA.



“February registered a 50% reduction of humanitarian aid entering Gaza compared to January. Aid was supposed to increase not decrease to address the huge needs of 2 million Palestinians in desperate living conditions,” Lazzarini said in a post on X, adding that the key obstacles are the lack of political will, regular closing of the crossing points, lack of security, and a collapse of civil order.



In a statement posted a day earlier, Lazzarini noted that the last time UNRWA was able to deliver food to Gaza was on January 23.



“Famine can be averted if more food convoys are allowed into northern Gaza on a regular basis. Our calls to send food aid have been denied and have fallen on deaf ears,” Lazzarini added, noting that a ceasefire is “long overdue”. 



In a report published on Monday, PRCS said that between October 22 and February 24, only 49 aid trucks passed through the Rafah Crossing. Additionally, between February 22 and 24, 348 aid trucks arrived via the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing.



The report also highlighted the generous contributions from international donors, including the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Egyptian Red Crescent, and the Turkish Red Crescent, which provided a total of 105 ambulance vehicles, enhancing the PRCS's capacity to deliver urgent medical care.



The PRCS estimates that Gaza requires weekly deliveries of 406 trucks of food parcels, bi-weekly deliveries of 406 trucks of hygiene kits, monthly deliveries of 650 trucks of dignity kits, and daily deliveries of 1,279 trucks of potable water.



Given the escalating needs of Gazan residents and the looming famine described by Lazzarini, the aid received falls significantly short of what is necessary to adequately address the crisis.



Echoing the sentiment during his address to the United Nations General Assembly Human Rights Council on Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that "humanitarian aid is still completely insufficient," adding that the Rafah Crossing, plagued by intense border inspections which have halted numerous convoys, is "the core" of UNRWA’s humanitarian aid operations.



“I repeat my call for a humanitarian ceasefire,” Guterres added.



Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission also expressed concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and called for a ceasefire.




“If we fail to help end the man-made humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and finally implement the two-state solution, this conflict risks setting the whole region ablaze", he wrote in a blog post on Sunday, adding that putting an end to the fighting in Gaza is “the most urgent task”.

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