Our response to the Gaza crisis

Statement on ceasefire in Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel

Shane Stevenson, Oxfam Country Director for the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, said: “Finally, for the first of 12 consecutive nights, two million Palestinians in Gaza, including hundreds of thousands of traumatised children, can rest rather than lie awake in fear as bombs fly over their homes.  And civilians across Israel will be spared the threat of rocket attacks.

“But this is not  a solution. This ceasefire will not change the occupation and denial of human rights which Palestinians are subjected to daily. This inhumane and brutal status quo has to stop, once and for all.  Oxfam calls on the parties to strictly observe this ceasefire, and for the international community to hold Israel and armed factions in Gaza accountable for any and all violations committed during and preceding this escalation of violence.  There must be a just and sustainable peace for all Israelis and Palestinians. Alleged war crimes committed in each round of violence must be investigated and prosecuted.”

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Nearly half a million people out of reach in Gaza

Oxfam staff are trying to resume their humanitarian and livelihood programs with a network of partners, but the current destruction and indiscriminate threat to life make any emergency aid impossible to mount. Oxfam should be providing food, clean water, sanitation and child protection support but the bombing is making it too dangerous for anyone to leave their homes. An assessment by Oxfam’s water and sanitation team found that many water wells and pumping stations have been damaged by Israel’s bombardments. These facilities are the only way for people living in Gaza to get clean water and any disruption to them creates immediate distress. Authorities estimate that 40% of Gaza’s water supplies have been affected. People are struggling to secure any cash or income to support their basic needs, including for buying food, water, and medicines. Many have been forced to spend their savings or are trying to sell assets. Many who have lost their homes have been forced into temporary shelters and, for now, humanitarian actors have not been able to set up systems to properly support them with food, water and sanitation facilities. As much as 200,000 hectares of agricultural land has been bombed or is otherwise inaccessible to farmers now because of the danger of attack. Transport and movement around Gaza is not only unsafe but now made highly difficult because of the bomb damage to roads and debris from destroyed buildings. Some arterial routes are blocked entirely. Oxfam says that it could take weeks to start meaningful repairs and organise some recovery and resumption of normality for people in Gaza, even if a ceasefire was declared today.

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Oxfam statement on the escalation of hostilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel

Civilians are once again paying the price for the failures of political leaders to negotiate a just and lasting peace for Palestinians and Israelis. Instead, we are witnessing yet another cycle of death and destruction that brings us no closer to addressing the root causes of the crisis and drives further human rights violations, poverty and suffering, particularly for a lost generation of children and young Palestinians. Oxfam calls for an immediate end to all violence. All parties must comply and adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law and the principles of distinction, precaution and proportionality in the use of force. The international community must immediately work to put an end to both the current escalation of hostilities and the underlying human rights violations and systemic policies of oppression and discrimination which gave rise to it, including the occupation.

Read our statement

Outbreak of violence in Gaza

Since the outbreak of violence in Gaza on Monday 10 May:

• 83 killed across Gaza by Israeli airstrikes and shelling, including 17 children, 7 women, and 487 wounded including 115 children
• 7 killed in Israel by rockets launched from Gaza, including 2 children and 104 wounded
• 1,160 rockets and mortar shells launched at Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza, around 240 of these landed in the sea or in the Gaza Strip
• Hundreds of military airstrikes by Israel targeting locations across the Gaza Strip
• 483 Palestinians across cities in the West Bank were hospitalised following confrontations with the Israeli army overnight late Wednesday
• 374 people were arrested during confrontations across various cities inside of Israel and East Jerusalem overnight late Wednesday

How you can help our response in GAZA

Donate to our Gaza Crisis Appeal to make sure women, children and men in Gaza can access clean water and essentials.

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