CAIRO: Famine has been mostly averted in Gaza as a surge of aid enters the territory during a fragile ceasefire, the United Nations humanitarian chief said Sunday. But he warned the threat could return quickly if the truce collapses.
Tom Fletcher spoke to The Associated Press after a two-day visit to Gaza, where hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid have arrived each day since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19.
“The threat of famine, I think, is largely averted,” Fletcher said in Cairo. “Those starvation levels are down from where they were before the ceasefire.”
He spoke as concerns grow over whether the ceasefire can be extended and talks are meant to begin on its more difficult second phase. The six-week first phase is halfway through.
As part of the agreement, Israel said it would allow 600 aid trucks into Gaza each day, a major increase after months of aid officials expressing frustration about delays and insecurity hampering both the entry and distribution of food, medicines and other badly needed items.
The UN humanitarian office has said more than 12,600 aid trucks have entered Gaza since the ceasefire took effect.
Fletcher urged both Hamas, which quickly reasserted its control of the territory in the hours after the ceasefire took effect, and Israel to stick to the deal that has “saved so many lives.”
“The conditions are still terrible, and people are still hungry,” he said. “If the ceasefire falls, if the ceasefire breaks, then very quickly those (famine-like) conditions will come back again.”
The internationally recognized mortality threshold for famine is two or more deaths a day per 10,000 people.
For months before the current ceasefire, food security monitors, UN officials and others had been warning of possible famine in parts of devastated Gaza, especially the north, which had been largely isolated since the earliest weeks of the 16-month war. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been able to return to the north under the ceasefire.
“We can’t ... sit by and just allow these people to starve to death,” Cindy McCain, the American head of the UN World Food Program, told CBS in December. The Biden administration repeatedly urged Israel to allow more aid deliveries and warned that failing to do so could trigger US restrictions on military support.
Fletcher said more food and medical supplies are crucially needed for the territory of more than 2 million people, most of them displaced, and he expressed concerns about disease outbreaks due to the lack of basic health supplies. He also called for scaling up the delivery of tents and other shelters to those who have returned to their home areas, as winter continues.
“We must get tens of thousands of tents very rapidly in, so that people who are moving back, particularly moving back into the north, are able to take shelter from those conditions,” he said.
Fletcher entered the Palestinian territory through the Erez crossing between Israel and northern Gaza, where he said he drove through “bombed-out, flattened and pulverized” areas.
“You can’t see the difference between a school or a hospital or a home,” he said of the north.
He said he saw people trying to find where their homes had been and collecting the bodies of loved ones from the rubble. He saw dogs looking for corpses in the rubble, too.
“It is a horror movie. It’s a horror show,” he said. “It breaks your heart again and again and again. You drive for miles and miles and miles, and this is all you see.”
Fletcher acknowledged that some Palestinians have been angry at the international community over the war and its response.
“There was despair and anger. And I can understand the anger at the world that this has happened to them,” he said. “But there was also a sense of defiance as well. People were saying, ‘We will go back to our homes. We will go back to the places that we have lived for generations, and we will rebuild.’”
UN humanitarian chief says Gaza ceasefire has averted famine but any truce collapse brings danger
https://arab.news/55mfg
UN humanitarian chief says Gaza ceasefire has averted famine but any truce collapse brings danger
- Fletcher urged both Hamas, which quickly reasserted its control of the territory in the hours after the ceasefire took effect, and Israel to stick to the deal that has “saved so many lives”
Arab Coalition announces ‘limited’ airstrike targeting two ships that smuggled weapons to Yemen
RIYADH: The Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen on Tuesday said it conducted a “limited” airstrike targeting two ships that smuggled weapons and other military hardware into Mukalla in southern Yemen.
In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Coalition Forces spokesman, Major General Turki Al-Maliki, said that two ships coming from the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates entered the port of Mukalla without obtaining official permits from the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition.
“The crews of the two ships disabled the tracking systems of the two ships and unloaded a large quantity of weapons and combat vehicles to support the Southern Transitional Council forces in the eastern governorates of Yemen (Hadramawt, Al-Mahra) with the aim of fueling the conflict. This is a clear violation of imposing a truce and reaching a peaceful solution, as well as a violation of UN Security Council Resolution No. (2216) of 2015 AD,” said the spokesman.
Al-Maliki said the Coalition Forces acted on a request by Rashad Al-Alimi, the president of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, “to take all necessary military measures to protect civilians in the governorates of Hadramawt and Al-Mahra.”
Al-Alimi, the president of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, warned last week that unilateral actions by the STC were pushing the country toward a dangerous tipping point.
“Given the danger and escalation posed by these weapons, which threaten security and stability, the Coalition Air Forces conducted a limited military operation this morning targeting weapons and combat vehicles unloaded from the two ships at the port of Al-Mukalla. This was done after documenting the unloading, and the military operation was carried out in accordance with international humanitarian law and its customary rules, ensuring no collateral damage occurred,” spokesman Al-Maliki said on Tuesday.
READ MORE: Analysis: The risks of carving up Yemen
He affirmed the Coalition’s "continued commitment to de-escalation and enforcing calm in the governorates of Hadramawt and Al-Mahra, and to prevent any military support from any country to any Yemeni faction without coordination with the legitimate Yemeni government and the Coalition. This is aimed at ensuring the success of the Kingdom and the Coalition’s efforts to achieve security and stability and prevent the conflict from spreading.”
Disregarding previous agreements with the Coalition, the group calling itself Southern Transitional Council, or STC, launched a sweeping military campaign early in December, seizing the governorates of Hadramaut along the Saudi border and the eastern governorate of Al-Mahra in Yemen’s border with Oman.
The UAE-backed STC forces captured the city of Seiyun, including its international airport and the presidential palace. They also took control of the strategic PetroMasila oilfields, which account for a massive portion of Yemen’s remaining oil wealth.
This prompted Saudi Arabia to issue a firm demand for the STC to withdraw and hand over the seized areas to the National Shield Forces, a Saudi-backed unit.
The coalition warned that any military movements undermining de-escalation efforts would be dealt with immediately to protect civilians, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
On Dec. 26, the UAE issued a statement welcoming Saudi Arabia’s efforts to support security and stability in Yemen.
The statement carried by state news agency WAM praised Saudi Arabia’s constructive role in advancing the interests of the Yemeni people and supporting their legitimate aspirations for stability and prosperity.
