[ As the leaders of some of the world’s largest global
humanitarian organizations, we have seen nothing like the siege of
Gaza.]
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WE ARE NO STRANGERS TO HUMAN SUFFERING, BUT WE’VE SEEN NOTHING LIKE
THE SIEGE OF GAZA  
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Michelle Nunn, Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, Jan Egeland, Abby Maxman,
Jeremy Konyndyk and Janti Soeripto
December 11, 2023
The New York Times
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_ As the leaders of some of the world’s largest global humanitarian
organizations, we have seen nothing like the siege of Gaza. _

, Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

 

We are no strangers to human suffering — to conflict, to natural
disasters, to some of the world’s largest and gravest catastrophes.
We were there when fighting erupted in Khartoum, Sudan. As bombs
rained down on Ukraine. When earthquakes leveled southern Turkey and
northern Syria. As the Horn of Africa faced its worst drought in
years. The list goes on.

But as the leaders of some of the world’s largest global
humanitarian organizations, we have seen nothing like the siege of
Gaza. In the more than two months since the horrifying attack on
Israel that killed more than 1,200 people and resulted in some 240
abductions, about 18,000 Gazans — including more than 7,500 children
— have been killed, according to the Gazan health ministry. More
children have been reported killed in this conflict than in all major
global conflicts combined last year.

The atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7 were unconscionable and
depraved, and the taking and holding of hostages is abhorrent. The
calls for their release are urgent and justified. But the right to
self-defense does not and cannot require unleashing this humanitarian
nightmare on millions of civilians. It is not a path to
accountability, healing or peace. In no other war we can think of in
this century have civilians been so trapped, without any avenue or
option to escape to save themselves and their children.

Most of our organizations have been operating in Gaza for decades. But
we can do nothing remotely adequate to address the level of suffering
there without an immediate and complete cease-fire and an end to the
siege. The aerial bombardments have rendered our jobs impossible. The
withholding of water, fuel, food and other basic goods has created an
enormous scale of need that aid alone cannot offset.

Global leaders — and especially the United States government —
must understand that we cannot save lives under these conditions. A
significant change in approach from the U.S. government is needed
today to pull Gaza back from this abyss.

For a start, the Biden administration must stop its diplomatic
interference at the United Nations, blocking
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calls for a cease-fire.

Since the pause in fighting ended, we are again witnessing an
exceptionally high level of bombardment, and at increasing ferocity.
The few areas left in Gaza that are untouched by bombardment are
shrinking by the hour, forcing more and more civilians to seek safety
that does not exist. Over 80 percent of 2.3 million Gazans are now
displaced
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The newest Israeli offensive is now forcing them to cluster on a tiny
sliver of land.
The bombardment is not the only thing brutally cutting lives short.
The siege of — and blockades surrounding — Gaza have led to a
critical food scarcity, cutoffs of medical supplies and electricity,
and a lack of clean water. There is barely any medical care to be
found in the enclave and few medications. Surgeons are working by the
light of their mobile phones, without anesthetics. They are using
dishcloths as bandages. The risk of waves of waterborne and infectious
disease will only grow in the increasingly overcrowded living
conditions of the displaced.

One of our colleagues in Gaza recently described their struggle to
feed an orphaned infant who had been rescued from the rubble of an
airstrike. The baby had not eaten for days after her mother’s death.
Colleagues could only scrounge up powdered milk — not formula, not
breast milk, and not a nutritionally suitable infant food — to help
stave off her starvation.

Before the war, hundreds
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of truckloads of aid were needed each day to support Gazans’ daily
existence. Only a trickle of that required aid has made it into Gaza
in the two months since the war began. But even if more were allowed
in, our work in Gaza is dependent on ensuring our teams can move
safely to set up warehouses, shelters, health clinics, schools, and
water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure.

Today our staff members are not safe. They tell us they’re making
the daily choice of staying with their families in one place so that
they can die together or go out to seek water and food.

Among leaders in Washington, there is constant talk about preparing
for the “day after.” But if this relentless bombardment and siege
continue, there will be no “day after” for Gaza. It will be too
late. Hundreds of thousands of lives hang in the balance today.

So far, American diplomacy in this war has not delivered on the goals
President Biden has conveyed: protection of innocent civilians,
adherence to humanitarian law, more aid delivery. To stop Gaza’s
apocalyptic free fall, the Biden administration must take tangible
measures, as it does in other conflicts, to up the ante with all
parties to the conflict and bordering countries.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken once said
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of the war in Ukraine that the targeting of heat, water and
electricity was a “brutalization of Ukraine’s people” and
“barbaric.” The Biden administration should acknowledge that the
same holds true in Gaza. While it has announced measures
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to deter violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, Mr.
Blinken and his colleagues should apply similar pressure to stop
violence against civilians in Gaza, too.

The harrowing events unfolding before us are shaping a global
narrative that, if unchanged, will reveal a legacy of indifference in
the face of unspeakable suffering, bias in the application of the laws
of conflict and impunity for actors that violate international
humanitarian law.

The U.S. government must act now — and fight for humanity.

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Michelle Nunn is the president and chief executive of CARE USA. Tjada
D’Oyen McKenna is the chief executive of Mercy Corps. Jan Egeland is
the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Abby Maxman is
the president and chief executive of Oxfam America. Jeremy Konyndyk is
the president of Refugees International. Janti Soeripto is the
president and chief executive of Save the Children U.S.

_The Times is committed to publishing __a diversity of letters_
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to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of
our articles. Here are some __tips_
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And here’s our email: [email protected]__._

* Siege of Gaza; Biden Administration; UN; Aid Organizations;
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