[ Before October 7 Gaza received some 500 trucks of food and other
supplies every day, including 45 trucks of fuel to power the strip’s
cars, water desalination plants and bakeries. Women, children and
elderly people are being killed – no one is spared]
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I RUN THE UN AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES. HISTORY WILL JUDGE US ALL
IF THERE IS NO CEASEFIRE IN GAZA  
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Philippe Lazzarini
October 26, 2023
he Guardian
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_ Before October 7 Gaza received some 500 trucks of food and other
supplies every day, including 45 trucks of fuel to power the strip’s
cars, water desalination plants and bakeries. Women, children and
elderly people are being killed – no one is spared _

‘Gaza is becoming the graveyard of a population trapped between
war, siege and deprivation.’, Photograph: Ahmad Hasaballah // The
Guardian

 

For more than two weeks now, unbearable images of human tragedy
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come out of Gaza. Women, children and elderly people are being killed,
hospitals and schools have been bombarded – no one is spared. As I
write this, UNRWA
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the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees, has already,
tragically, lost 35 of its staff
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many killed while in their homes with their families.

Entire neighbourhoods are being flattened over the heads of civilians
in one of the most overcrowded spots on Earth. The IDF has been
warning Palestinians in Gaza
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of the strip as it bombs the north; but the strikes also continue in
the south. There is nowhere safe in Gaza.

Nearly 600,000 people are sheltering in 150 schools and other UNRWA
buildings, living in unsanitary conditions with limited clean water,
little food and medicines. Mothers do not know how they can clean
their children. Pregnant women pray that they will not face
complications during delivery because hospitals have no capacity to
receive them. Entire families now live in our buildings because they
have nowhere else to go. But our facilities are not safe – 40 UNRWA
buildings, including schools and warehouses, have been damaged by the
strikes. Many civilians sheltering inside them were, tragically,
killed.

Gaza has been described over the last 15 years as a large open-air
prison
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with an air, sea and land blockade choking 2.2 million people within
365 sq km. Most young people have never left Gaza. Today, this prison
is becoming the graveyard of a population trapped between war, siege
and deprivation.

For the past few days, intense negotiations at the highest levels
finally allowed very limited humanitarian supplies into the strip.
While the breakthrough is welcome, these trucks are a trickle
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than the flow of aid that a humanitarian situation of this magnitude
requires. Twenty trucks of food and medical supplies are a drop in the
ocean for the needs of more than 2 million civilians. Fuel, though,
has been firmly denied
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Gaza. Without it, there will be no humanitarian response, no aid
reaching people in need, no power for hospitals, no water, no bread.

Before 7 October, Gaza received some 500 trucks of food and other
supplies every day, including 45 trucks of fuel to power the strip’s
cars, water desalination plants and bakeries. Today, Gaza is being
strangled, and the few convoys now entering will not assuage the
civilian population’s sentiment that they have been abandoned and
sacrificed by the world.

On 7 October, Hamas committed unspeakable massacres
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Israeli civilians that may amount to war crimes. The UN condemned
this horrific act [[link removed]] in
the strongest terms. But let there be no shadow of a doubt – this
does not justify the ongoing crimes against the civilian population of
Gaza, including its 1 million children
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The UN charter and our commitments are a commitment to our shared
humanity. Civilians – wherever they are – must be protected
equally. Gaza’s civilians did not choose this war. Atrocities should
not be followed by more atrocities. The response to war crimes is not
more war crimes. The framework of international law is very clear on
this and well established.

It will take genuine and courageous efforts to go back to the roots of
this deadly deadlock and offer political options that are viable and
can enable an environment of peace, stability and security. Until
then, we must make sure that the rules of international humanitarian
law are respected, and civilians spared and protected. An immediate
humanitarian ceasefire must be enacted to allow safe, continuous and
unrestricted access to fuel, medicine, water and food in the Gaza
Strip.

Dag Hammarskjöld, the second UN secretary-general, once said: “The
UN was not created in order to bring us to heaven, but in order to
save us from hell.” The reality today in Gaza is that there is not
much humanity left and hell is settling in.

The generations to come will know that we watched this human tragedy
unfold over social media and news channels. We will not be able to say
we did not know. History will ask why the world did not have the
courage to act decisively and stop this hell on Earth.

_[PHILIPPE LAZZARINI is commissioner-general of United Nations Relief
and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East since 2020.]_

* Palestine
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* Gaza
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* Israel
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* Israel-Gaza War
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* Cease Fire
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* Ceasefire
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* war crimes
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* Israel bombing
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* Genocide
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* apartheid
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* ethnic cleansing
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* Hostages
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* Terrorism
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* United Nations
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* UN Relief
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* Benjamin Netanyahu
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* Joe Biden
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* Biden Administration
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* Cori Bush
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