Keystone-SDA
The UN humanitarian coordinator for Gaza on Tuesday conveyed to members of the UN Security Council the Palestinians’ feeling of abandonment in the absence of “political will” to improve aid. They “survive” in “inhumane conditions,” she said.
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December 11, 2024 – 02:00
(Keystone-ATS) “I have painted a very, very bleak picture as civilians in Gaza continue to suffer,” Sigrid Kaag told reporters after making her regular report to the Security Council in a closed-door meeting. “As I told the council, I have traveled to Gaza in different roles during my career since the 1980s […] but nothing prepares you for what you see, for what you hear.”
“People feel abandoned by all of us, and I told the council that,” she insisted. They ask “where is the international community”.
And “in response to the ceasefire in Lebanon, Palestinians worry: ‘Will we be forgotten or will it be our turn next? “, she added, describing residents who live between “a little hope and extreme despair”.
Political will
The Dutch diplomat was appointed a year ago at the request of the Security Council to coordinate humanitarian aid to Gaza. But the scale of this aid remains largely insufficient to deal with a catastrophic situation, the UN tirelessly repeats, deploring in particular the large number of humanitarian convoy movements refused by the Israeli authorities.
“No system can replace or compensate for the absence or lack of political will. It’s political, it’s about political will and a political choice,” insisted Sigrid Kaag.
On October 7, 2023, an attack by Palestinian Hamas led to the death of 1,208 people on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official figures and including hostages who died or were killed in captivity in the strip. from Gaza.
The military campaign of retaliation launched by Israel has left at least 44,786 dead in the Gaza Strip, the majority of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas government’s health ministry for Gaza, deemed reliable by the UN.
