UNRWA requests the end of the siege to Gaza

Beatrice Garra – Vatican City

An invitation to “save our humanity” so that “everything is possible to achieve a high fire” in the Gaza Strip, where the living conditions are now desperate. Juliet Touma, UNRWA’s communications director, the United Nations Refugee Agency in the Middle East, gave this announcement to the microphones in the Vatican media. “We have to stop the bombings,” explains, “We give people a break, free hostages, bringing in humanitarian aid and commercial supplies.” After more than 580 days of the war, more than 52,000 people were killed by the Israeli bombings and about 120,000 wounds – according to the data of the Palestinian WAFA agency – the tape is about to collapse.

There is no safe place

“The situation in Gaza is very difficult, also due to the blockade imposed in the Gaza Strip for more than two months,” Toma continues, “our materials, and the basics such as food, hygiene and medicines, running out. Nevertheless, our team remains on the ground.” In fact, it is the largest humanitarian organization operating in the Gaza Strip, where more than ten thousand people work in the agency. “Despite everything, they continue to do an excellent and unusual job. When we talk to them and we are able to open the cameras, if the internet connection is good, we notice that our employees lose more and more weight. They tell us that they only have to share a meal with their relatives. Before the war, many worked in education, allowing more than three hundred thousand children to enroll in school. However, after October 7, 2023, schools had to close and became shelters for the displaced. “Many of those who were teachers participating in the humanitarian response,” explains Toma. They run shelters, drive cars, and distribute food. Meanwhile, the bombings continue, and people seek security, and it does not exist because everything has been reached in Gaza. Anyone can be a goal anywhere, even in places that should be safe, such as schools, United Nations or hospitals, which have been attacked. ”

People are starving

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a plan to invade and occupy Gaza, which includes forced transportation for more than two million people. Although the details of the implementation are still unconfirmed, the news shocked the international community. «The position of the United Nations – Toma says – very clear: We are against forced displacement. What should happen now with the people of Gaza is a high fire, similar to the fire that we had in January, which lasted for nearly two months. Repeated, it is repeated – the immediate release of all the hostages detained in Gaza; Regular supply should be restored from supplies, not only human, but also commercial. In fact, the economy of the tape was completely destroyed, because many lived from cattle and agriculture, which are now in practice with the territories that have been practically destroyed. The vast majority of Gaza population now depends on humanitarian aid, which is scarce. “People are already starving. What is the next step after famine? We all know what the next step is after famine. So it can be stopped. It can be avoided, “Toma repeats again, and reopens access to help.

UNRWA members were also affected

Meanwhile, the deaths in Gaza continue to report, including deaths from UNRWA employees. “Nearly three hundred of our colleagues at the United Nations,” says a blocked appearance of sadness, “They were killed. Many of them with their entire families. They were teachers, doctors, nurses, engineers, worked in logistics, in computer science. Some cases, from the alleged ties with Hamas. Many told us about the abuse For their families.

Support in the West Bank and neighboring countries

In fact, UNRWA continues to work in the West Bank, with education for fifty thousand children in agency schools, without interruption. However, supervision of work is still difficult because the visa is no longer granted to UNRWA employees. “Israeli officials are also prohibited from contacting UNRWA. Then there is no more communication. There is no format. In occupied East Jerusalem, our services are constantly threatened with interruption and closure, including, among other things, for schools of about eight hundred children. UNRWA also continues to work in neighboring countries – Jordan, Syria and Lebanon – with Palestinian refugees, who are generally among the poorest societies. And the most vulnerable. Consequently, UNRWA provides them with basic services, whether it is humanitarian assistance, education or medical care in clinics. Consequently, a commitment continues in all places where Palestinian refugees are, despite difficulties. The difficulties that begin to be really exciting in the Gaza Strip.