Palestinians

 Gaza farmers’ two-month-long “golden time” of agricultural production has been destroyed by Israel’s military bombing and sealing of northern Gaza, ruining the enclave’s richest farmlands which are one of its biggest sources of fruit and vegetables. 

The collapse of Gaza’s hospitals and healthcare system, coupled with the catastrophic living conditions, is resulting in babies dying of preventable causes, Oxfam warned today.  Newborns up to three months old are dying of diarrhoea, hypothermia, dehydration and infection as mothers have little to no medical support and are living in appalling conditions without water, sanitation, heat or food.  

Oxfam is warning that a total siege on Gaza will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. Yesterday’s announcement from the Israeli government, in response to the appalling attacks by Hamas, will stop all food, water, electricity and fuel from reaching an already vulnerable population. The siege adds to the ongoing blockade of Gaza, which has endured for 16 years. 

In response to the escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip with Israeli airstrikes killing 21 Palestinians, closing key crossings and barring critical supplies from entering Shane Stevenson, Oxfam OPTI Country Director said: “Civilians in Gaza are once again paying the price for the failures of political leaders to negotiate a just solution and lasting peace for Palestinians and Israelis."

The United Nations and all other humanitarian actors have spent 15 years delivering humanitarian support to 2.1m Palestinians blockaded inside Gaza, and yet, there is still no sustained collective political action or will to resolve it. 

Civilians are once again paying the price for the failures of political leaders to negotiate a just and lasting peace for Palestinians and Israelis. Oxfam calls for an immediate end to all violence.

Oxfam is deeply concerned at the tension and violence witnessed over the past few days in Jerusalem and the potential for further escalation. Palestinian families who have lived in Jerusalem for generations are being threatened with evictions and systemic discrimination benefiting the agenda of violent settler organizations, fanning the flames of current confrontations.

In reaction to Israel’s announcement to sending surplus vaccines to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Honduras, and Guatemala, Oxfam in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Acting Country Director Dina Jibril said: Israel’s deal to exchange surplus vaccines for UN votes and embassies, while the vast majority of almost 5 million Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza are left to wait for the potentially life-saving vaccine is shameful and shortsighted. 

The withdrawal of international observers deployed in Hebron threatens the already fragile security situation and risks contributing to a rapid decline in the city’s stability.