[Reader-list] 38 Aid Agencies Warn of Humanitarian Disaster in Gaza

[asit das]

  *FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*
November 19, 2012
12:45 PM

*CONTACT: Oxfam International <http://www.oxfam.org>*
 Phone
+1 617 482 1211 (Toll-free 1-800-77-OXFAM)
 Email
info at oxfamamerica.org
  38 Aid Agencies Warn of Humanitarian Disaster in Gaza if Military
Confrontation is not Stopped

WASHINGTON - November 19 - *As the impact of days of violent escalation
worsens for civilians in Gaza and in Israel, a group of 38 aid and
development agencies today urged world leaders to take swift action to
enforce a ceasefire in order to protect civilian lives and infrastructure
and prevent another widespread humanitarian disaster in Gaza brought on by
a prolonged military confrontation.*

The agencies said the international community must apply immediate pressure
on the government of Israel to keep the crossings to Gaza open to allow in
supplies of essential humanitarian aid and push all parties to the conflict
to end violence and uphold their obligations under International Law.

“World leaders cannot sit by while civilian casualties in Gaza and Israel
continue to mount,” said Nishant Pandey, Oxfam Country Director.

*“We urgently need to enforce a cease fire.* The present conflict threatens
to perpetuate and worsen the humanitarian impact on Palestinian civilians
in Gaza of over five years of Israeli blockade and the 2008-2009 Israeli
military operation ‘Cast Lead’. It will only deepen despair, create more
insecurity, and jeopardize chances for Israelis and Palestinians to reach a
just and durable peace,” he said.

*The agencies' call comes as local health care partners* and hospitals in
Gaza have announced they are running out of essential drugs and medical
supplies. As the escalating violence makes it difficult for partner
organizations and local staff in Gaza to move around on the ground, the
agencies said there were growing concerns about getting help to injured
people and food and other necessities to people in need.

“Thousands of innocent people, including women and children, are in danger
of being caught in the crossfire in the escalating violence between Israel
and Hamas. We are urgently appealing to all sides, as well as to world
leaders, to seek a political resolution and avoid the loss of any more
human lives. If global leaders do not intervene, Gaza stands on the brink
of yet another humanitarian crisis,” said Aleksandar Milutinovic, Mercy
Corps Country Director, West Bank/Gaza.

*Noting a number of civilian injuries and deaths* over the past days, the
agencies said that it was critical that the protection of civilians was
prioritized by the parties to the conflict as outlined by International
Humanitarian Law. They stressed that the protection of civilians extends to
civilian infrastructure, as a number of homes have already been hit by
strikes and shellings.

“Save the Children is deeply concerned by the recent escalation of violence
in Gaza and Israel. Children are already among the dead – and as always,
children bear the hardest burden during military conflict. Save the
Children urges all parties to end the violence immediately,” said Alex
Schein, Save the Children Country Director.

In calling for an end to the violence, the organizations stressed the need
for the international community to implement UN Security Council Resolution
1860, passed in March 2009, which outlined the conditions for a permanent
ceasefire and a path to long term security for both sides.

*“The failure to fully implement UN Security Council Resolution 1860* has
only re-fueled a cycle of violence that now needs to be put to a permanent
end. The international community has an obligation to act to protect
civilians and there needs to be immediate pressure on all parties to the
conflict to stop the fighting and start working towards peace,” said David
Viveash, The Carter Center Field Office Director.

With 1.6 million Palestinians in Gaza, around half of whom are children and
around 50,000 of whom are elderly, still living under blockade, the
organizations said another military operation would only increase the
hardship faced by the people they work with.

*“Civilians pay the greatest price* when the international community fails
to act. There are families that CARE and our Palestinian partners have
worked with in Gaza who are still living amidst the rubble of their
destroyed homes. It is critical that those with power to stop the conflict
act now. The human costs of another military confrontation would be too
high – the people of Gaza cannot afford to start rebuilding their lives all
over again,” said David White, CARE Country Director.
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Oxfam International is a confederation of 13 like-minded organizations
working together and with partners and allies around the world to bring
about lasting change. Oxfam works directly with communities and that seeks
to influence the powerful to ensure that poor people can improve their
lives and livelihoods and have a say in decisions that affect them.