Humanitarian agencies urge greater access to Gaza amid situation of 'chaos, despair and dysfunction'
Two humanitarian convoys have now been allowed into the region
Aid agencies are pleading for more access to the Gaza Strip, amid concerns that a potential ground offensive by Israel could worsen the humanitarian situation.
"I think desperate is an understatement" when describing the situation in Gaza, Robert Mardini, the director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live airing Sunday.
"I think what we're seeing today is nothing comparable to what we've seen in the past," Mardini told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.
On Saturday, a convoy of 20 trucks was allowed to enter Gaza, where roughly two million people have been living under what Israel called a "complete siege." Israel has pounded Gaza with airstrikes and cut supplies to the territory since Hamas militants crossed the border into Israel and conducted a series of deadly attacks and kidnappings against civilians on Oct. 7.
A second convoy was allowed to enter on Sunday, but humanitarian workers say the amount of aid entering the region is inadequate.
On Sunday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly issued a statement welcoming the initial convoy of aid but urged greater access, saying Gaza has so far received a "small fraction of what is needed."
"People are starving in Gaza," said Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Programme, in a separate interview.
"People don't have water, don't have electricity and most of all they don't have any food.... We need to get trucks in and get them in now."
Aid agencies, countries and individuals have been navigating a complex situation at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. While aid agencies are hoping to get food, water and fuel into Gaza, countries are also looking to extract citizens who are stuck there.
That includes hundreds of Canadians, permanent residents and their families who have not been able to cross the border into Egypt.
The Rafah crossing, the main route people in Gaza could take to leave, has been closed for most of the conflict. Opening the crossing is the subject of complex negotiations involving Egypt, Israel and the United States.
Far more aid needed, agencies say
Reacting to the news that some trucks would be let into the area on Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the opening but echoed a warning from Israel that no aid should end up in Hamas's hands.
"We have been clear: Hamas must not interfere with the provision of this life-saving assistance," Blinken said in a statement.
Aid that gets into Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, is distributed by the Palestinian Red Crescent.
McCain said it's positive that some trucks are allowed in, but the number of shipments need to be in the hundreds per day.
"Politics should not even play a part in this, this is a humanitarian crisis," McCain said.
"We have 40 trucks waiting outside [Gaza] that have food for half a million people on them right now, and we haven't been able to get them all in."
Tamer Jarada, a Canadian who has family in Gaza, told Barton that his family was struggling to get access to basic needs.
"Whenever they are able to get some water, it's just polluted water. It's not healthy, it's not for drinking.... For food, they are able to get some bread every other day," he said.
The humanitarian situation could be further exacerbated by an Israeli ground offensive, while the Israeli Defence Forces also said Saturday that the frequency of airstrikes will only increase in the days before a ground assault.
Mardini said his organization is doing everything it could to keep people safe and deliver aid.
"We are in contact with Israeli authorities, with Hamas, to ensure that there is a carve-out for humanity in the midst of chaos, despair and dysfunction," he said.
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With files from Reuters