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Seven aid workers<\/a>\u00a0from the food aid charity World Central Kitchen were killed in Gaza on Monday night when their convoy was attacked in a\u00a0confirmed Israeli<\/a>\u00a0drone strike. This puts the death toll among humanitarians\u00a0at over 200<\/a>. Most of them have been Palestinians. Gaza is the\u00a0most dangerous place<\/a>\u00a0in the world to be an aid worker.<\/p>\n It is also the most dangerous place to be a civilian. Delivering, as well as receiving humanitarian assistance can be deadly. In February, Israeli soldiers fired into a crowd gathered to collect flour, killing over 100 in what has been dubbed the\u00a0\u201cflour massacre<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n Humanitarian aid workers and people receiving aid should be protected and not targeted. Even wars have rules. The safe access of humanitarian relief to civilians in need is covered by the\u00a0fourth Geneva convention<\/a>. Despite this,\u00a0attacks on aid workers<\/a>\u00a0in conflict areas are becoming more frequent around the world.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\/*! elementor – v3.11.5 – 14-03-2023 *\/ The safety and freedom of movement of humanitarian workers\u00a0is essential<\/a>\u00a0to allow aid to reach those in need. In practice, this is implemented via what is known as\u00a0\u201cdeconfliction\u201d<\/a>, where organisations provide armed forces with location details and movement plans of workers, as well as real-time communication during humanitarian operations to ensure their safety.<\/p>\n World Central Kitchen were reportedly coordinating their movements with the Israeli Defense Forces and their\u00a0route had been pre-approved<\/a>. Aid workers have since pushed for\u00a0improvements to the deconfliction system<\/a>, including improved lines of communication and \u201ccommand and control\u201d within the Israeli military.<\/p>\n World Central Kitchen\u00a0suspended its operations<\/a>\u00a0in Gaza after the attack. The seven staff members had unloaded 100 tonnes of aid from a ship before they were killed.<\/p>\n World Central Kitchen pioneered this\u00a0maritime logistics corridor<\/a>\u00a0from Cyprus to a jetty south of Gaza City as road access to the Gaza Strip has been severely limited by Israel, despite growing\u00a0fears of starvation<\/a>. Another World Central Kitchen ship returned to Cyprus after the attack without being unloaded. For now, aid by sea is suspended.<\/p>\n UN organisations, which provide around\u00a080% of the aid in Gaza<\/a>, have\u00a0suspended night-time operations<\/a>\u00a0in response to the attack. Several humanitarian organisations have\u00a0paused their operations<\/a>\u00a0altogether as conditions have become too dangerous for their staff. Others are reevaluating their processes.<\/p>\n This is worrying, as UN experts have warned that\u00a0widespread famine<\/a>\u00a0is expected in Gaza. Charity Oxfam has said people in the north of the Strip have been trying to survive on\u00a0245 calories per day<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 less than that provided by a can of beans.<\/p>\n Israeli authorities severely restrict the ability of humanitarian organisations to reach people in need in the Gaza Strip. Humanitarian aid currently enters only through\u00a0two crossings<\/a>\u00a0(Rafah and Kerem Shalom) in the south. Movement of aid to\u00a0Gaza\u2019s northern region<\/a>\u00a0has been particularly difficult, prompting efforts to deliver aid by sea or air drops.<\/p>\n Air drops, expensive and operationally difficult, are seen as a\u00a0last resort<\/a>. In March, a\u00a0failed parachute<\/a>\u00a0resulted in a dropped pallet of aid killing five people in Gaza.<\/p>\n In another incident, at least 12 people\u00a0drowned<\/a>\u00a0trying to retrieve items that fell into the sea. Fights have\u00a0broken out<\/a>\u00a0for the goods dropped in this way as there is no organised delivery on the ground.<\/p>\n Bringing aid into Gaza by ship is more efficient. World Central Kitchen\u2019s first vessel carried around\u00a0200 tonnes of food<\/a>, around ten times as much as a\u00a0C-130 aircraft<\/a>\u00a0typically used for air drops\u00a0can carry<\/a>. But the problem of distributing the supplies around the Gaza Strip remains.<\/p>\n Safe and unhindered access for humanitarian goods and workers is vital for the survival of so many in Gaza. As an occupying power in Gaza, Israel is legally responsible under\u00a0article 55 of the fourth Geneva convention<\/a>\u00a0for \u201censuring the food and medical supplies of the population\u201d by bringing \u201cin the necessary foodstuffs, medical stores and other articles if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate\u201d.<\/p>\n Israel has banned the\u00a0UN\u2019s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA<\/a>\u00a0from delivering aid to northern Gaza over\u00a0allegations<\/a>\u00a0that some UNRWA staff took part in the October 7 Hamas attack. UNRWA has\u00a0refuted the claims<\/a>.\u00a0Australia<\/a>,\u00a0Canada<\/a>, the\u00a0EU<\/a>\u00a0and others have since reinstated funding for UNRWA that they initially suspended. But some other countries, including\u00a0the UK <\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0US<\/a>\u00a0have yet to reinstate their funding. As UNRWA is the\u00a0largest humanitarian agency<\/a>\u00a0with 13,000 staff in Gaza, this hinders relief operations significantly.<\/p>\n In March, a\u00a0daily average of 161 aid trucks<\/a>\u00a0have crossed into Gaza per day, around three-quarters of which have carried food. This remains well below the operational capacity of both border crossings and the target of\u00a0500 trucks per day<\/a>.<\/p>\n There is currently\u00a0more than 280,000 tonnes of aid goods<\/a>\u00a0ready to be moved into Gaza according to the global Logistics Cluster, a humanitarian coordination mechanism led by the World Food Programme. More than 1,300 UN and NGO trucks have been verified and are ready to move into Gaza from El Arish in Egypt. The bottlenecks are the border crossings and lengthy processes involved in checking trucks and cargo.<\/p>\n Israel has been accused of deliberately using\u00a0bureaucracy to obstruct aid supplies<\/a>\u00a0to Gaza.<\/p>\n In January, the\u00a0International Court of Justice<\/a>\u00a0ordered Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide, but stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire. In March, the\u00a0UN security council<\/a>\u00a0passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. Ultimately, a ceasefire is the only way to ensure aid can enter Gaza at scale and be distributed to those in need safely.<\/p>\n The attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy has sparked\u00a0global outrage<\/a>. UN\u00a0secretary-general Antonio Guterres<\/a>\u00a0said \u201cit demonstrates yet again the urgent need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and the expansion of humanitarian aid into Gaza\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Need for humanitarian access<\/h4>\n
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