France promised an additional 80 million euros for the Palestinian population, during the conference on humanitarian aid to Gaza, while international donations should exceed one billion euros in 2023. A commitment that is certainly important but does not solve the problem of aid to the Gaza Strip, as Isabelle Defourny, president of Doctors Without Borders, warned in this interview.
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To encourage donations to Gaza civilians, French President Emmanuel Macron intends to lead by example. “France has announced 20 million euros of additional humanitarian aid and to reach 100 million euros in 2023,” declared the president, on Thursday, November 9, in Paris, during the International Humanitarian Conference aimed at supporting the population of the enclave.
Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which left 1,200 dead and the kidnapping of hundreds of hostages, the Israeli army has led a massive bombing campaign in Gaza, which has so far left more than 11,000 Palestinians dead, according to the health services of the enclave, led by Hamas.
Emmanuel Macron insisted on the urgency of protecting civilians in Gaza and called for “a very quick humanitarian pause.” He stressed the importance of “working toward a ceasefire,” which Israel, which has vowed to “destroy Hamas,” has so far categorically refused.
To analyze the statements of the Head of State during that conference and take stock of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, France 24 interviewed the president of Doctors Without Borders, Isabelle Defourny.
France estimated on Thursday that pledges of humanitarian aid donations for civilians in Gaza should exceed one billion euros in 2023. Does this amount seem proportionate to the challenges?
Isabelle Defourny: The Conference allowed progress on several important points, such as the recognition of the urgency of delivering aid, a semantic change in the words of Emmanuel Macron who called, for the first time, a ceasefire, and financial commitments that are of course positive.
But as for the amount, it must be understood that even before the war, the United Nations estimated the aid needed for the Palestinians at more than one billion euros, particularly in Gaza, where 80% of the population already depended on international aid for daily needs such as water, food or access to education.
With 1.5 million displaced in Gaza and tens of thousands injured since the start of the war on October 7, this number will likely be insufficient. Funding is certainly essential, but the most urgent problem today is the delivery of humanitarian aid, because without a ceasefire, in any case, it is impossible for us to deploy aid that meets the needs.
Israel claims to be carrying out “local tactical pauses for humanitarian aid.” Does this system help people?
So far, these are not true humanitarian pauses. We currently have 300 Palestinian colleagues in Gaza, 70% of whom are currently in the south.
Those who still have the network are warned of these tactical pauses a few hours in advance by leaflets or text messages, but it is impossible under these conditions to allow aid to be deployed or to plan resupply.
Typically, in conflict zones, we create forward medical posts where the wounded receive urgent treatment and are then transported for further treatment. However, there is no safe zone in Gaza. Hamas’ health service says a third of the victims died in southern Gaza. We cannot verify this figure, but our colleagues confirm that bombing continues in the south and we know of people who died there during the attacks.
We also lost a colleague on November 6 in the north of the enclave in a bombing. His name was Mohammed al-Ahel and he was a laboratory technician at MSF.
You are returning from a trip to Egypt, where the only delivery point for humanitarian aid to Gaza is currently located. Can you explain to us how these deliveries are made?
While needs have obviously been much greater since October 7, humanitarian aid deliveries have decreased significantly. In one month, 700 trucks of humanitarian aid were able to enter the enclave, corresponding to approximately two days of delivery before the war.
At MSF we mobilized five trucks transporting material equivalent to 800 surgical interventions. Four have returned but the fifth is still trapped at the border without us knowing the reason.
Entries through the Rafah point are managed by teams from the Egyptian Red Crescent, who do a good job, but everything must be verified at Israel’s request.
We know that some medical equipment is not authorized, such as oxygen extractors, which Israel fears Hamas could use in the tunnels. Fuel also poses a problem, although it is essential for the operation of Gaza’s hospitals and the desalination plants that supply fresh water. However, there are no clear rules and, due to this opaque control system, help arrives in dribs and drabs.
Other supply routes such as the maritime corridor mentioned by Cyprus are currently being studied, but Israel still needs to authorize this access. In addition to the ceasefire, the priority is to facilitate the control process in Rafah and open crossing points from Israel to allow the entry of aid.
This article was adapted from its original in French.
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