Israel Withholding Food, Water and Supplies from Gaza Population, Humanitarian Leader Says
Israel's decision to deny humanitarian aid to Palestinians called "a choice"
Israel is purposely denying basic necessities from the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza as the Israeli military undertakes its massive retaliation campaign against Hamas for the October 7 attacks.
That's according to the head of one of the world's best-known non-governmental humanitarian organizations.
More than 15,000 Palestinian civilians — including thousands of women and children — have been killed by Israeli forces since it began its strikes on Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attacks which killed about 1,200 Israelis.
The situation in Gaza, already difficult before the current hostilities, has become much more dire in recent months.
“There is no way to get out. Nobody can flee, which is not the case in most of these other crises. And there's nothing coming in,” said Janti Soeripto, president of Save the Children, founded more than a century ago. “And there's an absence of basic necessities.
“So, the siege that's put on the people of Gaza is not … we cannot do it,” Soeripto added, in an on-camera interview with Margaret Brennan, of CBS News. “There is no market of sorts to allow people to get access to food and water and anything they need. So — so, we think that is a willful, you know — ”
“It's a choice,” Brennan interjected.
“It’s a choice. It’s a choice. And it’s withholding aid from the population,” Soeripto added.
The recent humanitarian pause in fighting — spurred by a hostage and prisoner exchange — was not enough time to deliver all the needed aid, Soeripto said.
“I mean, when the humanitarian pause happened a few days ago — for seven days — those seven days were not enough,” she said. “You cannot really rebuild a warehouse in seven days. But there was aid coming in. We could even deliver some of those supplies, even without fuel, the necessary fuel, to get stuff all the way up to the north.
“But, currently, with all this violence, the attacks, the shelling, the violence, we cannot go out and deliver safely,” Soeripto added. “We cannot even ask families and children to come out and receive those deliveries, because that is not safe either.
“People are putting up tents in the middle of the road, because that's the only way to get shelter currently,” she said.
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