As famine continues to ravage Gaza, Christian relief organisation Tearfund has sounded the alarm over what it calls a “man-made humanitarian crisis,” accusing Israeli authorities of deliberately obstructing aid to the besieged enclave.
According to Tearfund, life-saving medical supplies, food, and water, are being withheld at border crossings while two million civilians, including children, face day by day starvation and malnutrition a brief distance away.
The charity’s local partners report that essential supplies are sitting in storage either on the border or throughout the Gaza Strip, largely inaccessible attributable to strict Israeli restrictions.
“The suffering in Gaza will not be ‘unimaginable’, we see the horrors of it each day,” Safa Hijazeen, Tearfund’s Regional Director.
“‘Risk being shot or watch your loved ones starve’ will not be a alternative – it’s a barbaric, real-life ‘Hunger Games’, complete with powerful leaders watching from well-stocked places of safety.”
Local aid organisations working with Tearfund, including Anera and International Health Partners (IHP), are reporting severe access issues.
Anera, which has provided meals, secure drinking water and essential medical aid, says distribution points have turn out to be fatal flashpoints, with over 1,000 people reported to have died attempting to access food.
In one harrowing account, two young boys were reportedly fired upon while attempting to retrieve a macaroni packet from the ruins of their home.
IHP, having previously supplied medical aid exceeding £1.1 million to hundreds of people, now finds its shipments blocked on the border, despite urgent needs in Gaza’s overwhelmed hospitals.
Tearfund is urging Israel to grant full access through land entry points immediately and to facilitate unrestricted, sustained humanitarian access to all areas of Gaza.
The charity has also condemned the reliance on air drops, calling them unsafe and insufficient.
Hijazeen said: “The horrific injustice is that it is totally stoppable. The UK government and world leaders must demand, and proceed to demand, that aid be allowed into Gaza immediately, freely and at scale – words should not feeding anyone.
“As Christians, how can we not be horrified by seeing God’s children starve to death? We cannot just watch and do nothing.”
In addition to urgent access for aid, Tearfund is demanding a swift ceasefire, the liberty of all those held captive, and a return to a UN-led humanitarian framework.
The organisation insists the present militarised aid deliverance system have to be dismantled in favour of 1 rooted in humanitarian law.
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