(Montreal) A Canadian stranded in the Gaza Strip says aid trucks that entered the enclave on Saturday, the first since the start of the recent war between Israel and Hamas, will do little to ease the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians everywhere are faced around him.
Published at 9:35 p.m.
Fakiha Baig The Canadian Press
Mahmoud Nasser, a 30-year-old who moved from Mississauga, Ontario, to Gaza City in 2021 to care for his aging father, is among those in the Palestinian territories facing Israeli bombing. Israeli airstrikes since Hamas’ bloody rampage in southern Israel two weeks ago.
While seeking refuge with 50 others in a house in the southern city of Khan Yunes, Mr. Nasser said in a telephone interview that the aid that arrived in Gaza on Saturday was the first since Israel cut off the region from food, water and electricity do little to help people who are already hungry and desperate for clean water.
He says the search for a drink of water in Gaza remains a life-threatening mission for many, even as trucks full of vital aid returned on Saturday for the first time since the start of the recent war between Israel and Hamas.
Mr Nasser claims that the 20 trucks allowed to pass through the Egypt-Gaza border crossing have made little difference to the humanitarian crisis that residents are experiencing all around them.
These shipments represent just a fraction of the usual flow of supplies into the area currently controlled by Hamas, and more than 200 trucks carrying 3,000 tons of aid have been waiting nearby for days. In response to Hamas’ deadly invasion of Israeli cities on October 7, Israel cut off supplies of food, fuel and other goods to the region and launched numerous airstrikes. The ensuing war – the latest in a series of five – is already the deadliest conflict of its kind for both countries.
Mr. Nasser continues to see people openly fighting for water and food. “Water is the biggest battle… we are hunting every day,” he said in a telephone interview from the town of Khan Yunes.
PHOTO SAY KHATIB, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
In the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, citizens line up to fill containers with drinking water.
My wife is five months pregnant and I’m very worried because today we’re out of bottled water and she’s drinking dirty water and I’m not sure if it’s hygienic… I feel like no one cares.
Mahmoud Nasser, a Canadian stuck in the Gaza Strip
Mr. Nasser has already lost several loved ones since the beginning of this war and he expects that unless additional help is provided, many people who have not already died from constant air raids will soon die of starvation and dehydration.
“It’s a very strange feeling,” he says, adding that he has had the privilege of being able to buy at least one or two bottles of water every day.
More deaths without new help
A joint statement from various UN organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), said that the trucks that entered Gaza on Saturday passed through the southern border with Egypt. The groups stressed that the thousands of bottles of drinking water, food and medical supplies on board were “far from enough” for the Palestinians, about a million of whom have fled their homes.
“Given the large amount of civilian infrastructure damaged or destroyed in Gaza in nearly two weeks of relentless bombardment, including shelters, health centers, water, sanitation and electrical systems, time is running out before “mortality rates due to epidemics and lack of protection.” “Health care capacity is skyrocketing,” their statement said.
“Water production capacity is at 5% of normal levels. The humanitarian aid supplies provided in advance have already been used up. Vulnerable people are most at risk, children are dying at alarming rates and are being denied their rights to protection, food, water and health. »
The humanitarian corridor opened after more than a week of high-level diplomacy, including visits to the region by US President Joe Biden and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Israel had insisted that nothing would enter the Gaza Strip until Hamas freed all hostages during its Oct. 7 attack on towns in southern Israel.
On Friday evening, Hamas released its first hostages: an American woman and her teenage daughter. It was not immediately clear whether there was a connection between the release and the aid deliveries. According to Israel, Hamas is still holding at least 210 hostages.
Reem Sultan, a 49-year-old resident of London, Ont., said her cousin in Gaza cried during a phone conversation Saturday when he said he just wanted to give his children water. He also saw fights break out between those seeking scarce food, she added.
PHOTO REEM SULTAN PROVIDED BY THE CANADIAN PRESS
In an undated photo taken before the war between Hamas and Israel broke out, London, Ont., resident Reem Sultan, sitting in the middle and wearing a blue jacket, is seen with her family on a beach in Gaza.
The nights were also very cold, and Ms. Sultan said her cousin set out barefoot, dodging the bombs, to get blankets for her shivering daughter.
I can’t believe the choices my family has to make to survive, whether it’s water, some food from home, or just keeping warm.
Reem Sultan, resident of London, Ontario
“This shouldn’t happen on our watch. This is madness. It’s beyond terrible. »
According to Gaza authorities, more than 4,300 people have been killed in the territory since the start of this war. More than 1,400 people have died in Israel, most of them civilians killed during the deadly Hamas incursion on October 7.
With information from Associated Press