Israel-Gaza war: aid demand intensifies after strike on charity convoy

People remembered Gaza's dead in different ways over the past 48 hours in Rafa. This father wept over the body of one of his two children killed in an Israeli air

strike

in Falmouth last night. A friend of James Henderson addressed a crowd. One of the murdered British workers. in an Israeli air

strike

, such a beautiful and beautiful part of all of our lives and in r, another friend of someone lost their pickaxes in the rubble of another attack including food that came in care packages. The United States gave us some aid and lethal humanitarian aid to Israel. Helping the US military to them is like saying kill them but kill them kindly and therein lies the international tension thrown at Stark Focus since the deaths of the seven World Central kitchen workers on Monday, the pressure on the US governments. and the United Kingdom to suspend armed activities Sales to Israel report today that the drone used in the attack had components made in Britain, while calls for more help intensify due to the paralyzing effect that Monday's attack has had in some aid deliveries.

The WCK founder accused the IDF of attacking his staff. systematically something that the Israelis refute, so it was not a bad luck situation where we dropped the bomb in the wrong place or not, this was more than 1.5 1.8 kilometers with a very defined humanitarian

convoy

that had signs on the top of the roof, a colorful logo that we are obviously very proud of but which makes it very clear who we are and what we do. The IDF said today that the result of its investigation into the incident had been concluded and had been shared with Benjamin Netanyahu.

A government spokesperson described an adjustment in practices but did not explain what that meant, clearly something went wrong here and as we learn more and the investigation reveals exactly what happened and the cause of what happened, we will certainly adjust our practices in the future. to make sure this doesn't happen. Once again, there was already very little aid arriving in northern Gaza, most of it via airdrops, and after Monday's attacks some charities have stopped aid deliveries, surprising those who haven't. fact, with almost 200 humanitarian workers killed. NOS has had to get used to violence and most of the work is done by the people who live there, most of the aid workers are garans, they themselves are the ones affected by the conflict and while they are affected they are trying to provide much-needed humanitarian assistance on an ongoing basis.

President Biden spoke with Benjamin Netanyahu by phone today, his first direct conversation since Monday's airstrike. Netanyahu was told that future US support for Gaza depends on new measures to protect civilians and humanitarian workers and that an immediate ceasefire was essential Today we spoke with a State Department staffer who recently resigned by US policy in Gaza. I think there is growing frustration with the ways in which Netanyahu continues to go against what the president has said. He wants Israel to do what he wants Netanyahu to do. My hope is that there is an understanding that American interests, Israeli interests, and the interests of the Netanyahu government are not aligned here, the next big test between American and Israeli interests is not far away in what form a ground offensive will take in Rafa in southern Gaza and what it will mean for the million people. in addition to the people who now live there, Park O'Brien, and in the last few minutes Reuters reported that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinkin joined the US tightening line, warning that if we don't see the changes in Israel that we need to see.

There will be changes in American policy much sooner. I spoke to Tess Ingram from UNICEF, who spent today traveling in the Gaza Strip, and asked her what conditions are like. I am in Rafa, in the southern Gaza Strip, and I can tell you that conditions have deteriorated since I was there last year in mid-January. I can see that people are tired and hungry, they tell me they are at the end of their rope in terms of resilience and it is clear. In terms of infrastructure, there has also been a lot more damage, higher levels of waste, poor sanitation, so things really continue to deteriorate here day by day and what is the situation regarding food, food is limited, still We are not receiving enough humanitarian aid.

The incoming aid and the very little aid that we are receiving is really difficult for us to distribute throughout the Gaza Strip to the people who need it, particularly in the north where we know that a famine can happen at any time. Today I entered a hospital in the middle area of ​​di Bala and met many malnourished children, including a boy, seven-year-old Omar, who had come from the north just two days ago. His grandmother said he'd been living in the grass, I mean. We have heard many Israeli spokespeople in recent days say that this is a false narrative that it is not true that people in Gaza are on the brink of starvation so what they have seen are people on the brink of starvation, yeah, um.

Honestly, it depends on where you are and the situation is worse the higher you go through the Gaza Strip, so the middle area compared to rraa is worse. The north compared to the middle area is worse again and honestly I was surprised today by Christian at this hospital in the middle. area because of the number of children and adults that I saw who looked incredibly malnourished and the head of Pediatrics there told me that the number of cases that are being admitted in general has tripled and of those, 90% of the children who are being admitted I have malnutrition, so what is the problem in terms of removing the aid that comes across the border?

I mean, Israel says more aid is coming now than before, so where is it? I do not agree that there is more help now than there was before. I just took a look at the numbers we have for trucks arriving and since the beginning of March we have been averaging 156 trucks per day; Before the war, it was 500 a small aid. In order to enter, we have to go through a war zone. These two crossings that we have are both in the south, so we have to go through the entire Gaza Strip and, as we saw in the tragic incident on Monday night, where our colleagues were killed, it is not safe here the systems that are meant to protect us are not working and on top of that there are all sorts of logistical problems like road damage crowded streets telecommunications outages it is really very difficult and has that strike at the World Central Kitchen Convoy now made a difference again this week as It reduced the amount of aid that reached people.

World Central Kitchen was one of the main players in food distribution here, they paused their operations along with some other NGOs so I'm sure that will have an impact and of course some of the food that they were going to unload was They turned around and went back in the opposite direction, which is heartbreaking to see when we know that children are dying from malnutrition, we as the United Nations stay and deliver, but you know again that it is not easy and what we have to do much more. The numbers are pretty mind-boggling, although I mean you know World Central Kitchen, for example, said there were hundreds of thousands of meals a day that were now cancelled, does that mean there are hundreds of thousands of people going hungry?

Yes, that's right, food in the 8 is so scarce that many people depend on one meal a day, so if they don't get that meal from World Central Kitchen or can't get a WFP delivery containing flour to make bread, then They're probably not going to eat that day and I've talked to families who have told me that's the case where they share maybe a spoonful of beans between four or five people. I can also ask you about the type of attempts to take Aiden across the sea. I mean, you know, we've heard this American idea of ​​building some kind of pontoon, do you know what difference those operations are likely to make?

How long will it take to make a difference? Well, we've been told that some of them are more than six months away and we simply don't have six. months of waiting, the children of Gaza need food now, not in six months, but other than that, the most efficient way to get food is through land routes and there are other land routes that we can open that would take us directly to the north in 10 minutes. away from where these children are dying of malnutrition, so for us that is the best option and we are really advocating hard for these additional crossings to be open, there is no reason why we can't open one of them.

Thank you so much. Joining me now from Oslo is Yan Egund, the Secretary General of the Norian Refugee Council and a key diplomat in the Oslo process of the 1990s. The American language is really ramping up tonight, with the Secretary of State apparently saying whether Israel it doesn't. Not changing course American policy will change, but the United States continues to send weapons to Israel, so what does this language really mean? ER, hopefully it would mean something if there is some strength in diplomacy. I finally feel a change now. I hope this is a turning point. six international aid workers were killed after 200 Palestinian aid workers were killed and now capitals like Washington London Berlin are realizing that they have had diplomacy that has been of astonishing importance and that they have not even been able to help us achieve .

Help the children of Gaza, but they have been willing to provide the tools for this indiscriminate attack on the civilian population. I think things will change, but there have to be sanctions, there has to be much more strength in diplomacy. What do you mean by sanctions? Well, I would like to see, for example, that we will not provide him with the tools for destruction and blows like the ones that the Americans seem to be doing now, which are indiscriminate. I mean, the loud bangs knock down an entire apartment. houses and so on, we won't do that until we have a conflict system that humanitarians can work in and that we have access through many border crossings and we end these ridiculous air drops and also the very chaotic sea route uh Sea there . it's a ceasefire that puts an end to the indiscriminate attacks and there is also a beginning of some kind of political process to end all this right and having been, I know you were also in Gaza recently, I mean, how do you can you make the help move?

You know, it's clear that people are starving, how can you get this moving now safely by opening several road junctions that are called caran Aris in the north? They are about 25 minutes by road to Gaza City, where the people are. famine they are not starving they are in famine there is no other way to describe it also I would say that countries like the United Kingdom and us why have they not organized their own

convoy

s to Gaza can they do so under international law how come Israel is allowed ? to control or enter even through the Egyptian border with Gaza, international law says that aid must be allowed to be applied to people who are dying of hunger, if there is a belligerent who denies it it is because the world has dehumanized the Palestinians, I think uh there's an element of that and I think there's also a large scale of hypocrisy here.

I think the rest of the world is saying how is it so bad with the Russian occupation of Ukraine and with the Russian bombing of civilian targets and denying people. electricity and water when they seem acceptable in the Palestinian case, not even weapons and political and other support have been denied, so the moral authority of our major donors is also at stake here. I think things are changing. I feel a change now. I think this is a decisive moment. I see the discussion in London, in Washington and even in Berlin, now saying enough is enough, we have, we, we, Israel cannot continue as they have done.

Yan Egan, thank you very much, in fact, Aisha, thank you. Chris Channel 4 News has heard about that. Department of Business and Trade officials have threatened to stop working on the UK's armed cells in Israel, this comes after the publication of a letter signed by more than 600 lawyers warning that the UK could be failing to meet its obligations under international law. our senior political correspondent Paul mnar is in Westminster Paul, yes, these are officials who we understand to be involved in overseeing arms exports to Israel, their fear that what they have been asked to do may violate international law and that, according to the International law, ignorance is not a defense in the final minutes.

PCS union chief negotiator Paulo Conor told Channel 4 in a new news quote: We believe the UK government has an obligation to doeverything possible to stop the attack, as he does not seem willing to do so, so we are seriously considering it. take legal action to prevent our members from being forced to carry out illegal acts, they continue to add, we do not take these cases lightly and only do so when we have a reasonable prospect of wedding at point R, the government has responded to this . He said, uh, quote: We are keeping the advice on Israel's accession to Arian international humanities law under review and we will act in accordance with that advice.

All export license applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against strategic export licensing criteria, but look, it's not just these officials. who have a problem with arms sales to Israel right now, three senators, three Supreme Court justices and 597 other of the most prominent voices in the legal profession also have a problem, they have written to the prime minister saying they want a ban. on armed cells we met with one of the senior lawyers this afternoon, this is what he had to say: we have called for a ban on armed cells because the weapons could be used in acts of genocide in Palestine, um, the letter does not has identified specific weapons from the UK that have been used in the past, but the concern is that they may be used in the future, and it is inTo try to prevent that, we say that a ban is appropriate and that is what you believe is happening In Palan now it is a genocide, it is a very meaningless word to use, it is a very forceful word and it has a very specific legal meaning there.

There is a serious risk of genocide. The UK is party to the genocide convention and that gives it certain obligations and one of the obligations arises when there is a serious risk of genocide, so quite specific words are used to define what is happening. If there is a serious risk of genocide, then what the UK must do is take all reasonable steps to try to prevent it. Look, the government constantly receives legal advice. The workers have asked that this legal advice be made public. Want? will be made public um this is again, it's not something that appears in the letter, but personally yes, I would appreciate that legal advice being made public.

I'm sure the majority of the population would. This is a matter of public interest. National and international concern

demand

s greater openness than would normally be the case in the ways of government.