29 November 2023 — The International Rescue Committee (IRC) welcomes the two-day extension of the humanitarian truce between Israel and Hamas and the ongoing release of hostages. However, the scale of the devastation and humanitarian need in Gaza continues to require a sustained ceasefire and an exponential scaling up of humanitarian assistance via all available crossings.
Since the start of the pause, an alarmingly low number of trucks carrying critical supplies including fuel, cooking gas, tents, bottled water, and wheat flour have crossed into Gaza via the only open crossing in Rafah, Egypt. Despite this marginal uptick of aid flowing into Gaza, the amounts fall well below the catastrophic needs - especially for civilians in northern Gaza who remain hard to reach. Queues for cooking gas inside Gaza have extended for more than 2 kms with families increasingly desperate to be able to cook and keep warm. Rolling electricity blackouts due to a lack of fuel, severe restrictions on access to safe water, and plummeting temperatures and heavy rainfall all continue to exacerbate the dire humanitarian situation, particularly given 80% of the population has been displaced due to the fighting. Our partners on the ground tell us of sewage now flowing in the streets due to destruction and lack of waste management; an emerging hunger crisis not just facing civilians but aid workers trying to help; and the spectre of communicable diseases haunting communities and with vastly reduced ability to understand where outbreaks are happening.
Short extensions to the pause - while welcome - will not provide adequate protection for the over 2 million civilians in Gaza who now fear renewed bombardment on Thursday. Nor will a short extension be sufficient to re-establish and scale up the systems of humanitarian aid and service delivery that have been destroyed over the past six weeks. We cannot measure the humanitarian response in truckloads alone. Humanitarian staff must be able to safely reach those in need and civilians must be able to move and gather safely and freely to access humanitarian aid and services (to include child safe spaces, education activities, emergency health including mental health and other specialized services, for example for women and girls). Effective aid delivery also requires Israel to ensure the ongoing delivery of fuel, water, and electricity supplies.
The IRC has explained why given the scale of the destruction, and the conduct of the parties, it is not possible to propose limits on the duration of a ceasefire. Only a durable ceasefire can bring a meaningful end to civilian harm, provide safety for those in need of aid, and create the necessary conditions for a humanitarian response at the scope and scale that is so urgently required.
The IRC has a team on the ground in Egypt working with partners to deliver supplies and provide specialist support in fields of health, water and sanitation, child and women’s protection and psycho-social interventions.