According to the UN, more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip are at risk of starvation. Appeals to allow more help are increasing. But some in Israel say: That would be a death sentence for the hostages.
Hazem Srourr’s videos on Instagram from the Gaza Strip are seen by tens of thousands. Some, in all the misery, have something almost tragicomic about them – for example, when the young man unpacks the contents of a US aid package: Chilli with beans, chicken noodles and spaghetti with beef are on the plastic packages. Next to all sorts of small packages with lots of plastic, there is also a pack of sweets.
Anyone who gets a package like this is in luck: the USA has airdropped around 38,000 meals in the past few days. According to the United Nations, more than 500,000 people in the Gaza Strip are at risk of starvation.
“People eat leaves from trees”
The suffering of the people of Gaza could even be heard on Israeli army radio. There were voices from the Gaza Strip at prime time, like this man from the north: “In the north of the Gaza Strip, people eat leaves from trees and also animal feed. There is no food there,” he reported. The aid deliveries wouldn’t get there.
Another man reported what happens when aid is dropped: “For example, if the aid lands on the roof of a house, the residents immediately take it. And if it lands in an open space, a crowd rushes towards it , even though it’s only a little.”
According to Palestinian information, the first children have already died of malnutrition. However, the information cannot be verified.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by the Palestinian and Israeli conflict parties cannot be directly verified by an independent body.
USA sees Israel as having a duty
Last Thursday, more than 100 people died during an attempted delivery of aid to the north of the Gaza Strip. Apparently there was a mass panic, Israeli soldiers opened fire and trucks ran over people.
US Vice President Kamala Harris then chose harsh words towards Israel: “The people in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane – and we are obliged to act.” Israel’s government must do more to ensure that aid deliveries increase significantly. “No excuses,” Harris demanded, “they must open new border crossings and lift unnecessary restrictions.” Israel must ensure “that humanitarian workers, locations and convoys are not shot at.” And a basic order must be created in Gaza “so that more food, water and fuel reaches those who need it.”
According to the UN, 500 truckloads would be needed per day
According to the United Nations, 500 truckloads of aid are needed in the Gaza Strip every day. In the past few days, just over 100 came, and in February an average of around 83 per day.
This is one of the reasons why more aid supplies should come from the air, demands Daniel Hagari, the Israeli army spokesman. Israel coordinated humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, carried out by the US Central Command and the Jordanian Air Force. “This is significant, we support all efforts to help the suffering civilians in Gaza. We have coordinated a total of 21 airdrops in northern Gaza with France, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and the USA,” stressed Hagari.
Ex-Security consultant Israel’s rejects more Aid deliveries away
But there are also other voices in Israel – from people for whom the deliveries of aid to Gaza are a thorn in their side. Giora Eiland, for example: He is the former head of Israel’s National Security Council and said in a radio interview: “If the Palestinians really urgently need humanitarian aid, then they must be told: if they want food, they must put pressure on their government to do so enter into a hostage deal.”
There is a solution, Eiland continued. It’s just that the other side has to give in. “If Israel increases humanitarian aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, there will be no hostage deal,” said Eiland with conviction: “And I’ll go one step further: By expanding humanitarian aid deliveries, we impose a sentence on the kidnapped Israelis who are in the Gaza Strip “The Gaza Strip is a death sentence.”
The release of hostages and a ceasefire would improve the situation of the people in the Gaza Strip – that much is certain. But whether this will happen in the next few days is completely unclear.
Jan-Christoph Kitzler, ARD Tel Aviv, tagesschau, March 5th, 2024 1:25 p.m