Dina Mahmoud (Washington, London)
Five members of the US Senate called on the administration of President Joe Biden for Washington to play a leadership role in mobilizing the necessary relief support to deal with the current humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, in light of the war there continuing for more than 4 months, which has left behind what they described. , with a “massive and unacceptable impact” on civilians in the Gaza Strip.
The members, belonging to the Democratic Party, stressed that the responsibility for leading such relief efforts falls on the United States, in light of its enormous ability to deliver aid by sea, through its great capabilities in the field of maritime shipping, as well as by virtue of its relations with Israel, which may make it able to coordinate The process of providing humanitarian supplies directly to the people of Gaza.
The members, who represent the states of Oregon, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Vermont, stressed that the Palestinians could no longer wait any longer, calling for Washington to begin acting immediately, and to launch what they called the “Gaza Relief Operation,” to meet 4 main needs of the population.
These needs, according to an article published by American lawmakers in the Washington Post, are medicines and medical supplies, food aid, water supplies, as well as safe shelter for the displaced, provided that the United States also continues its efforts to reach a ceasefire, accompanied by the release of… hostages, and seek to give priority in any military operations, to avoid harming civilians.
According to the proposal of US Senators, through this relief operation, medical aid could be delivered directly to hospitals by air, and food and water supplies and other necessary needs could be delivered via sea and land, with humanitarian organizations operating in the Gaza Strip undertaking the task of distributing Those supplies, without deploying any American forces on the ground in the Strip.
In this regard, the members explained that the inability of the remaining hospitals in Gaza, which are still partially operating, to provide the necessary medical services to thousands of Palestinians suffering from life-threatening injuries, requires Washington to launch air bridges to provide those hospitals with supplies, including necessary medicines. From antibiotics to insulin.
They said that in this context, the possibility of sending two US Navy medical ships, with a capacity of 1,000 beds each, to the eastern Mediterranean region to provide their services, and to coordinate work with ships that undertake similar medical tasks in the region, whether they belong to other countries or to organizations, could be discussed. Non-profit relief.
The lawmakers also stressed that the United States should work with Israel to coordinate transfers of seriously wounded Palestinians to hospitals in other countries in the region, and to establish no-fire zones around field hospitals already in place in the Gaza Strip.
It is expected that this relief operation will also include, according to members of Congress, action to prevent the people of Gaza from facing a famine that appears imminent, by immediately delivering food supplies to them, along with providing the necessary fuel supplies to restart bakeries and stoves used in home cooking.
Moreover, the five members called for these humanitarian efforts to include working to confront the acute water shortage that the residents of the Gaza Strip suffer from, especially with the increasing risk of the spread of diseases and epidemics such as cholera, at an accelerating pace, as a result of being forced to use contaminated water.
Water delivery
This requires Washington, according to the article, to move to deliver water and the equipment necessary to purify it to Gaza, as well as to ensure the provision of fuel necessary to operate the desalination plants established there, in addition to seeking to repair two of the three pipelines, through which Israel provides clean water to the Strip, after these two pipelines were removed. Out of service weeks ago.
In the same context, American lawmakers said that the proposed “Gaza relief operation” should include measures that would facilitate the provision of aid to humanitarian organizations and agencies, to enable them to establish temporary shelter centers in areas coordinated with Israel and the United Nations to ensure that they are safe. .
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