Save the Children warns that neither naval aid nor airdrops will solve the crisis in Gaza

Date:

The NGO assures that “the only solution is an immediate and definitive ceasefire, accompanied by safe and unrestricted humanitarian access through all border crossings and within the Gaza Strip.” An Open Arms ship is in Cyprus with 200 tons of food.

The NGO Save the Children has warned that there are plans to send humanitarian aid Loop via a maritime corridor and food drops that started last week at the enclave They do not represent a solution for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians trapped there, and that only an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas can save their lives.

In a statement published this Sunday, Save the Children recalls that this is indeed the case children dying of hunger and that the United States’ plans to complete this maritime corridor with the construction of a temporary floating port in front of the strip will take too long.

“These alternative methods of delivering aid are costly, ineffective and distract from the crucial solution to saving the lives of children and families in Gaza,” Save the Children said before ensuring “The only solution is an immediate and definitive ceasefire accompanied by safe and unrestricted access to humanitarian assistance through all border crossings and within the Gaza Strip.”

Airdrops, “without coordination on the ground of who they reach,” and maritime corridors like the one announced Thursday are not solutions to keeping children alive, nor are they a substitute for unhindered humanitarian assistance through established land routes.

For Save the Children’s Director for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Jason Lee, saving children’s lives is “a matter of hours or days, not weeks (…) We need a definitive ceasefire now and, in the meantime, “immediate humanitarian access is urgently needed through all available routes.”

Open Arms is waiting for the moment to set sail

A ship from the Spanish NGO Open arms wait for the right conditions to leave for Gaza this Sunday from Cyprus with 200 tons of food such as flour, rice and cans of tuna, to alleviate the famine caused by the Israeli blockade and attacks on the Gaza Strip. The plan is for the boat to depart throughout the day, but it is not yet known when it will depart.

Laura Lanuza, Director of Communications and Projects at Open Arms, has indicated that the right time to do this is being considered, as the Open Arms route is very complex and the start time depends on many factors, including weather conditions.

This operation was planned months ago in collaboration with World Central Kitchen, an NGO founded by the famous Spanish chef José Andrés, which will distribute aid on the ground. The ship has been in the Cypriot port city of Larnaca since mid-February. According to Open Arms, the operation has permission from the government of Cyprus, Israel and the Palestinian National Authority.

According to Lanuza, the mission of the two NGOs has “nothing to do” with the opening of a humanitarian corridor announced on Friday by European Commission (EC) President Ursula Von der Leyen.

The Open Arms ship will carry 200 tons of food from Cyprus to Gaza

The Open Arms ship will carry 200 tons of food from Cyprus to Gaza
The Open Arms ship will carry 200 tons of food from Cyprus to Gaza


International pressure on Israel

While negotiates a ceasefire between Israel and Hamasthe international community continues put pressure on Israel to enable access to more humanitarian help to Gaza, especially in the north, where 700,000 people are at risk of famine.

Von der Leyen announced on Friday the imminent opening of a maritime humanitarian corridor, which she said would be launched this weekend in a “trial operation”, without giving further details.

The President of the European Commission underlined the determination and efforts of the European Union as well as countries such as the United Arab Emirates and the United States to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza after five months of war.

Washington plans to build a floating dock off the coast of Gaza to facilitate the disembarkation of aid.

In the five months of war, more than 30,900 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip in Israeli retaliation for attacks in which Hamas killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 253, 130 of whom remain trapped in the enclave.


Gazans mourn the dead.  EFE.


Source: EITB

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe

Popular

More like this
Related