Gaza Aid Distribution Struggles amid Overcrowding, Debris, Lack of Fuel

 Palestinians look for survivors following Israeli airstrike in Nusseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (AP)
Palestinians look for survivors following Israeli airstrike in Nusseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (AP)
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Gaza Aid Distribution Struggles amid Overcrowding, Debris, Lack of Fuel

 Palestinians look for survivors following Israeli airstrike in Nusseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (AP)
Palestinians look for survivors following Israeli airstrike in Nusseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (AP)

Distribution of food and medical supplies is faltering in Gaza due to a chronic lack of fuel, looting of stores, the choking of streets with rubble from Israeli shelling and overcrowding caused by displacement of civilians.

And despite an uptick in the trickle of supplies, the number of aid trucks entering Gaza -- currently averaging 14 daily -- remains tiny compared to the 400 trucks seen daily in normal times for a population of 2.3 million now desperate for essentials like bread, aid officials say.

UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said on Monday that over the past day it had delivered hundreds of tons of flour to 50 Gaza bakeries, helping to lower bread prices by half, and to shelters hosting hundreds of thousands of people.

But the agency, which runs Gaza's largest aid operation, said a break-in by hungry Gazans on Sunday at its second largest warehouse was likely to further complicate its work.

A logistics base at the Rafah border crossing that is vital to aid distribution has become harder to operate because 8,000 displaced people are sheltering at it.

The agency has also seen 67 of its workers killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, the highest number of UN staff killed in any conflict in such a short span of time, it said.

UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma said the agency's priority was providing aid to 150 shelters for at least 670,000 displaced people, while another priority was providing wheat flour to bakeries.

"We're way beyond our capacity" to do anything more than that, she added.

The number of displaced is four times more than UNRWA had planned for before the war as a worst-case scenario, she said.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said their Gaza City warehouses had suffered "severe damage" on Monday and were out of service.

Israel is blockading Gaza and refuses to allow in fuel, saying it could be used by the Hamas militant group for their military goals.

"The constant threat of bombardment, debris, and lack of fuel makes roads extremely dangerous and inaccessible in many parts of the Gaza Strip," said Jonathan Crickx, communications chief for UNICEF Palestine.

While UNICEF is bringing in medical supplies, he said, "distribution is becoming more and more difficult".

Sanitation ‘atrocious’

Aid flows to Gaza have fallen sharply since Israel started shelling the Palestinian enclave in response to an attack by the Hamas militant group on Oct. 7 that killed 1,400 people.

The death toll from the bombardment has caused international uproar. Medical authorities in Hamas-run Gaza said on Tuesday that 8,525 people including 3,542 minors had been killed.

Distribution is particularly hard in northern Gaza, the main focus of Israel's military operation, aid officials say, and some have halted all deliveries.

World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said on Tuesday it had sent no further aid to northern Gaza hospitals since Oct. 24, citing a lack of security guarantees.

A public health catastrophe is imminent, he said, amid the mass displacement and damage to water and sanitation infrastructure.

He said there had been 82 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza since the conflict began on Oct. 7, with 491 people killed in the attacks, including 16 on duty health workers, and 28 ambulances damaged or destroyed.

Rick Brennan, the WHO regional emergencies director, told Reuters that with 1.4 million people displaced in such a densely populated territory, conditions were dire.

"The sanitation is atrocious, I mean I was just talking to an UNRWA colleague, she said the living conditions are sub-human. Where do people go to the bathroom? How do you remove all waste?"

He said such a condition was ripe for the outbreak of diseases such as diarrhea and respiratory and skin infections such as scabies.

In Cairo, US Special Envoy David Satterfield, who has been negotiating with Israel and Egypt over aid deliveries, said providing humanitarian aid was critically important for Gaza, whose inhabitants say food and water have almost run out.

"This is a society on edge and desperate... and the UN implementers must be able to demonstrate that aid is not episodic," he said in a briefing for reporters.

Aid flows from Egypt have been slowed by an inspection system agreed with Israel in which trucks drive from Egypt's Rafah crossing along the Egypt-Israel border before returning towards Gaza. UNRWA's Touma called the system "way too cumbersome".



What Might Happen in Israel’s Parliamentary Dissolution Vote?

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid takes part in a demonstration against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist coalition government's judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 17, 2023. (Reuters)
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid takes part in a demonstration against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist coalition government's judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 17, 2023. (Reuters)
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What Might Happen in Israel’s Parliamentary Dissolution Vote?

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid takes part in a demonstration against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist coalition government's judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 17, 2023. (Reuters)
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid takes part in a demonstration against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist coalition government's judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 17, 2023. (Reuters)

Opposition party Yesh Atid has submitted a vote to dissolve the Israeli parliament, known as the Knesset, for June 11, amid rising tensions in the ruling right-wing coalition.

Here are some key facts about the Knesset, the procedure for a dissolution vote, which would lead to an election, and possible scenarios.

KNESSET COMPOSITION

Total seats: 120

Simple majority needed to pass the vote: 61

Current government majority: 8 seats

LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE

The Yesh Atid motion faces four votes with an absolute majority of the Knesset required in the final stretch to become law, thereby bringing a premature end to the legislature and triggering an election, which must be held within five months of the motion passing.

In practice, if the initial vote passes, the subsequent stages could occur all the same day or take months.

OPPOSITION STRATEGY

A bill to dissolve parliament will only be brought to a vote if Yesh Atid is confident of securing a majority. If not, it can withdraw the motion anytime before June 11, preventing a vote.

ALTERNATIVE SCENARIOS

Ultra-Orthodox coalition parties could decide to leave the government to protest at its failure to put forward a law granting exemption from military service to ultra-Orthodox men. At the same time, they might refuse to vote for dissolution of parliament, allowing a minority government to continue.

COALITION NUMBERS

The coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a majority of around 68 seats in parliament, though its size has fluctuated due to internal political shifts.

The two coalition ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, hold 18 seats collectively. If they united with the opposition, they would have enough votes to dissolve parliament and trigger early elections a year ahead of schedule.