After a little more than a month of war, everything is lacking in Gaza: water, food, medicine, gasoline… And humanitarian aid transported from the Rafah crossing point, on the border Egyptian, is not enough as it is only distributed piecemeal between the incessant bombings of Israel.
It is in an attempt to release aid to Gaza that France is hosting a “humanitarian conference” this Thursday, November 9, at the initiative of its President Emmanuel Macron. The Israeli government will not be represented at this conference organized at the Elysée, but the French head of state spoke on Tuesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and will speak to him again afterwards, according to the French presidency. Emmanuel Macron also had telephone conversations on Tuesday with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, whose countries play a key role in improving the delivery of aid in the Gaza Strip, where 2.4 million Palestinians are crowded together. But Arab countries will not, a priori, be represented at the highest level.
The Palestinian Authority will be represented by its Prime Minister and Egypt, which controls the only crossing point to Gaza not held by Israel at Rafah, will send a ministerial delegation. The conference will, however, be closely followed by humanitarian organizations, which tirelessly denounce the lack of access and the impossibility of providing aid as long as the bombings on Gaza continue.
Thirteen NGOs called on Wednesday for an “immediate ceasefire”, demanding to “guarantee the entry of aid into Gaza and respect for international humanitarian law”. In total, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates the amount needed to help civilians by the end of 2023 at $1.2 billion. These needs concern many areas.
At least 284 million would be needed to achieve food security according to the UN, 210 million to restore needs in hospitals, particularly in medicine, and 140 million to provide access to water and ensure a minimum of hygiene for Gazans. .
According to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the discussions at the Paris summit will include a section on aid in terms of food, medical equipment and energy, “a complicated question because Israel does not want gasoline enters the Gaza Strip.
A second part is planned on pledges of donations as well as an “exchange on humanitarian access” to the territory, always extremely complicated.