No Supply Of Aid Left In Gaza, Volunteers To Starve

Gazans fighting for food/DOK PHOTO WHO

JAKARTA - The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) revealed that their aid stock in Gaza had completely run out, with several volunteers / staff now starving. Israel is considered to be crippling their work.

"Our last tent, our last food package, our last aid items have been distributed. Nothing remains," said NRC Secretary General Jan Egeland in an interview with Reuters, Tuesday, July 22.

The council's statement echoed a statement made earlier on Tuesday by the head of the Palestinian refugee agency, which said UNRWA staff fainted while working from hunger and fatigue.

The NRC stated that over the past 145 days, it had failed to deliver hundreds of trucks containing tents, water, sanitation, food, and educational materials to Gaza.

COGAT, Israel's military aid coordinating body, and Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to a request for response.

The Israeli military previously told Reuters they were trying to facilitate the entry of aid, coordinating with the international community.

They denied accusations of obstructing aid from reaching Gaza and accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of stealing food, which Hamas denies.

"Hundreds of trucks have been stuck in warehouses or in Egypt or elsewhere, and have spent a lot of money on our Western European donors, but they are prevented from entering. That's why we are so angry. Because our job is to help," said Egeland.

"Israel does not want to give in. They just want to paralyze our work," he said.

The NRC has 64 Palestinian staff and two international staff in Gaza. On Sunday, the NRC was forced to remove 33 of its staff from Deir al Balah following the Israeli evacuation warning.

The NRC says its safe drinking water supply, which has reached 100,000 people in central and northern Gaza in recent weeks, is also running low, as the availability of fuel to operate the desalination plant reaches its limits.