Aid Worker on Gaza Ceasefire: “We’re All Holding Our Breaths”

WHAT IS NEEDED RIGHT NOW IS FULL UNRESTRICTED HUMANITARIAN ACCESS.

NO MORE IS REALLY RESTRICTIONS ON THE ENTRY OF AID.

NO MORE SIEGE.

CROSSINGS NEEDS TO BE OPEN.

WE NEED A MASSIVE SCALE UP THAT MEETS THE NEEDS OF 2 MILLION PEOPLE.

WE NEED COMMERCIAL GOODS TO ENTER, RESTAURANTS, CAFES, SHOPS REOPEN.

PEOPLE IN GAZA HAVE ENDURED UNIMAGINABLE SUFFERING FOR THE LAST TWO MONTHS, RELENTLESS BOMBARDMENT, FORCED DISPLACEMENT, HUNGER.

WE NEED SAFE ROUTES, FUEL FOR THE AID CONVEYS, FUEL FOR HOSPITALS, FUEL FOR WATER SYSTEMS, AND WE NEED LIKE I SAID COMMERCIAL GOODS TO FLOW FREELY AGAIN.

YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW, FOR EXAMPLE, WE WERE TALKING YESTERDAY, GAZA NEEDS SOAP.

WE NEED TRUCKS AND TRUCKS OF SOAP IN GAZA BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE RUNNING OUT OF SOAP LET ALONE RUNNING OUT OF BASIC ESSENTIALS.

I HOPE THIS MEANS FULLY OPEN CROSSINGS AND NO MORE RESTRICTIONS ON WHAT WE CAN GET INTO GAZA.

>> I WANT TO ASK YOU, WERE YOU SURPRISED OR IS IT TOTALLY NATURAL, NOUR IS NOT JUMPING UP AND DOWN AND, YOU KNOW, SINGING AND SHOUTING.

HE SHOULD IS VERY CONCERNED, VERY STRESSED, VERY WORRIED THAT THIS MIGHT NOT LAST.

DO YOU GET THAT?

>> I MEAN, YEAH, OF COURSE.

YOU KNOW, I'M IN THE WEST BANK.

WE ARE ALL HOLDING OUR BREATH.

I SPOKE TO MY BROTHER-IN-LAW.

I HAVE MY IN- LAWS IN GAZA.

HE SAID, YOU KNOW, NOBODY CAN BELIEVE IT.

WE DON'T TRUST IT YET.

WE CAN STILL HEAR THE SOUNDS OF BOMBS AND ISRAELI PLANES AND DRONES ABOVE GAZA.

SO FOR US IT'S YET NOT REAL.

BUT OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, FROM MY PERSPECTIVE IN THE WEST BANK AND AS A HUMANITARIAN WORKER AND HAVING WORKED HERE TWO YEARS, WE WELCOME THE CEASEFIRE, RELEASE OF THE HOSTAGES, UNLAWFUL DETAINMENT OF PALESTINIAN PRISONERS AS WELL.

THIS HAS TO BE A START OF A REAL EFFORT TO RESTORE FLYNN LIVES, RESTORE THEIR RIGHTS AND END THIS ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC, HORRIFIC ASSAULT ON GAZA.

>> CAN I ASK YOU ALSO, YOU HAVE SAID THAT GAZA IS, QUOTE, A PETRI DISH OF DISEASE.

AND I READING IS IN OUR INTRODUCTION WHICH SAID THAT THE ISRAELIS OR THE AGREEMENT SAYS THAT HUMANITARIAN AID, FOOD, MEDICINE, WATER, BASICS WILL START FLOWING COMMENSURATE WITH PREVIOUS CEASEFIRES.

IS THAT ENOUGH?

>> WELL, RIGHT NOW, YES.

GAZA IS A PETRI DISH OF DISEASE.

WHEN YOU HAVE 2 MILLION PEOPLE THAT ARE DISPLACED THAT ARE CRAMMED INTO THESE OVERCROWDED SHELTERS, WITH NO INFRASTRUCTURE, NO CLEAN WATER, NO SANITATION, CHILDREN DEFECATING OPENLY IN GAZA, CHILDREN LOOKING FOR SCRAPS OF FOOD IN THE BINS IN GAZA, THAT WAS NEVER UNHEARD OF IN GAZA BEFORE, NO HOMELESS PEOPLE BEFORE THE 7th OF OCTOBER.

YEAH, SURE, WE CAN TALK ABOUT THE NUMBER OF HUNDREDS OF TRUCKS.

WE NEED TO RESTORE DIGNITY MATERIALS.

PEOPLE NEED TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMES OR WHAT IS LEFT OF THEIR HOMES AND START REPAIRING, BASIC WATER INFRASTRUCTURE.

IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT THROWING BOX OF FLOUR AND, YOU KNOW, WE ARE HAPPY WITH THAT.

NO.

IT NEEDS A FULL HOLISTIC RESPONSE, RESPONSE TO FAMINE.

WE ARE RESPONDING TO A FAMINE.

IT'S NOT A NORMAL HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE.

THOUSANDS OF TRUCKS, WHATEVER IS NEEDED TO RESTORE SOME SORT OF BASIC LIFE IN GAZA.

I MEAN, PLEASE, YOU KNOW, I HAVE LIVED THIS VERY PERSONALLY FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS AND IT'S TRULY ENOUGH.

SO PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE SOAP AT LEAST.

YOU KNOW, I MEAN, SOAP, BABY FORMULA, THE BASICS.

>> THANK YOU TO FROM OXFAM BASED IN THE WEST BANK THERE.

I WANT TO GO BACK TO NOUR.

I THINK WE CAN STILL TALK TO HER IN GAZA.

JUST A FINAL THOUGHT FOR YOU FOR THIS MOMENT.

YOU HAVE BEEN WALKING AROUND.

YOU HAVE BEEN IN GAZA FOR ALL THIS TIME.

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT CAN BE REBUILT?

HOW PA BAD IS IT?

BECAUSE WE CAN'T SEE ON A BIG LEVEL.

BUT IT LOOKS PRETTY OBLITERATED TO US.

>> YEAH, UNFORTUNATELY WHAT WE KEEP SAYING IS THAT THIS GENOCIDE, THIS CEASEFIRE COMES AFTER TWO YEARS OF GENOCIDE AND TWO YEARS OF INDISCRIMINATE MASS KILLING AND DESTRUCTION TO EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE, WHETHER IT'S INFRASTRUCTURE, HEALTH FACILITIES, HOMES.

DESTRUCTION OF LITERALLY EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE.

AND FOR THIS TO BE RESTORED, LIKE, WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT THE BASICS.

ACCESS TO HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE, WHAT IT MUST NOT BE DEPENDENT ON A PEACE AGREEMENT, UNFORTUNATELY.

IT SHOULD BE LIKE FOLLOWED BY AN URGENT AND MASSIVE SCALEUP OF HUMANITARIAN AID TO ADDRESS THESE OVERWHELMING NEEDS WHETHER IT'S MEDICAL NEEDS, WHETHER IT'S PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS, WHETHER IT'S MATERIAL NEEDS.

I MEAN, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT EVERY SINGLE ASPECT.

AS A MEDICAL ORGANIZATION, PATIENTS ARE LITERALLY ON THE FLOOR BECAUSE THERE IS NO BEDS.

THE DOCTORS AND THE NURSES ARE CHANGING THE DRESSING FOR PATIENTS WHO HRC LITERALLY LAYING ON THE FLOOR.

WE ARE WORKING IN FIELD HOSPITALS THAT REACHED MORE THAN 150 BED CAPACITY OR BED OCCUPANCY RATE, WHICH IS MORE THAN TWO PEOPLE PER BED IN A HOSPITAL.

IT'S CATASTROPHIC TO SAY THE LEAST.

NOT ENOUGH OF ANYTHING.

NOT ENOUGH OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES.

NOT ENOUGH OF MEDICATION.

NOT ENOUGH HUMAN RESOURCES.

>> WELL, WE HOPE --THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

NOUR ALSAQQA, THANK YOU FOR TELLING US WHAT'S GOING ON THERE.