The humanitarian situation in Gaza is described as an extreme state of disaster. After a trip to Israel, Jakob Westerman, who is head of humanitarian aid at Sida, can describe the situation for civilians in Gaza.
– Healthcare has completely collapsed. Food is running out and there is hardly any clean drinking water. The situation is getting really desperate.
But most urgent is access to protection.
– Aid workers we talk to testify that the most urgent thing is to try to ensure protection for the population from violence and the fighting that is going on in Gaza right now.
Is it possible to give some perspective of how bad it is?
– We work with many aid workers in many different parts of the world. Many of those I met in Jerusalem have long experience of working in other crisis situations. And surprisingly many say that this is one of the absolute worst things they’ve been through and one of the absolute worst things they’ve seen.
Less aid after 7 October
Humanitarian aid is coming into Gaza, but it is far from enough, says Jakob Westerman. Because despite the humanitarian situation getting worse after Hamas’s attack on Israel, less aid is coming in.
– We see truck convoys coming in. There is talk of a little over 50 trucks a day. Before October 7, there was also a humanitarian crisis situation in Gaza. Then over 500 lorries came in a day. It is only a trickle of the support needed.
He sees the fact that Israel and Hamas are close to an agreement regarding a ceasefire as something positive, but more is needed.
– According to international humanitarian law, that access must be unlimited and continuous at all times. A pause is better than nothing, but what is needed is unrestricted humanitarian access.
“That’s what you’re worried about right now”
After the stories that Jakob Westerman has heard, he does not think that any lightening is near, on the contrary, there are many clouds of worry – including a health disaster.
– The sanitary conditions are dramatic. Thousands of people are in small spaces, in UN schools where hundreds of people share a toilet and where sanitation conditions are appalling. It risks leading to disease outbreaks, waterborne diseases and also corpses that are not taken care of.
In addition, they see on Sida that the military operation continues towards the southern part of Gaza, where many Palestinians have fled.
– What it means for the civilian population, that’s what they’re worrying about right now.
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