Aid groups in the Gaza Strip said on Tuesday they were more concerned than ever about the safety of staff in the Gaza Strip after an airstrike killed seven World Central Kitchen workers, saying the deaths were a fundamental threat to Palestinians. He said this highlights the growing challenge of meeting needs.
Humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza during the war.Since the war began, his 176 UNRWA staff Juliet Touma, the agency's director of communications, said groups providing aid to Palestinians were killed, including in the line of duty. Several other aid groups said their staff were killed in the airstrike.
But the recent death toll has sparked new alarm. World Central Kitchen suspended operations there on Tuesday, saying it had coordinated the movement of the attacked convoy with the Israeli military. The military said it was investigating the episode.
Aid groups called on Israeli authorities to abide by international law protecting humanitarian workers as they consider future plans.
“Everyone feels at risk right now,” said Michael Capponi, founder of Global Empowerment Mission, a nonprofit aid organization that distributes tents, sleeping bags, medical equipment and food to Palestinians in Gaza. “There is,” he said.
Capponi said he was reconsidering his plans to go to Gaza next week. Some staff members who were in daily contact with the deceased World Central Kitchen employee say they “basically want to pack up and go home right now,” but it is clear that He said he had no specific departure plans.
“We need assurances to the international NGO community that we can do this work that we are doing safely, and this is very important,” Capponi added. He said it was unacceptable that aid workers were killed despite going through the UN's “deconfliction” process. The UN is supposed to protect humanitarian workers by informing the military of their activities.
Tess Ingram, a UNICEF spokeswoman temporarily based in Gaza, said the notification system to keep workers safe was not working, leaving them vulnerable.
“This highlights what life is like here in Gaza for everyone, not just aid workers,” she said. “Even if you do everything right, no place is safe.”
He added that the strike had a wide-ranging impact on humanitarian organizations' ability to provide food assistance. She said World Central Kitchen not only provides meals directly to Gazans, but also to hospitals.
Ingram said she hopes the strike will “make the world aware that what's happening here is wrong.”
Ashir Baydoun, a spokesperson for the British group Palestinian Medical Aid, said the group was concerned about the safety of its next medical mission to Gaza, scheduled for later this week. The organization said several members of its aid team were injured in an Israeli airstrike in January.
“We thought the armored vehicle and the de-collision process would actually protect the doctors,” said Baydoun, who is based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. “But now we don't know how to protect our mission and our colleagues.”
Save the Children, which distributes food, water, medical supplies and toiletries in Gaza, also called on parties to the conflict to uphold international law protecting humanitarian workers. The group announced that one local staff member was killed in an Israeli airstrike in December.
“The news of the attack is terrifying. For us, a nightmare has come true,” said Soraya Ali, a spokeswoman for the group. “Unfortunately, we know that Gaza is currently one of the most dangerous places in the world for humanitarian workers.”
