Palestinians worry Israel-Iran conflict will shift world's attention from their plight
Aid distribution sites in Gaza have been shuttered since June 13 morning, which was shortly after the initial Israeli attacks on Iran began. PHOTO: REUTERS
JERUSALEM – Palestinians in the Gaza Strip said on June 14 that they worried the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran was shifting the world's attention away from their urgent humanitarian crisis.
While Israeli military planes bombed Iranian nuclear sites and Iran fired barrages of ballistic missiles at Israeli cities over the past two days, Palestinians in Gaza were struggling to find food, connect to the internet and avoid strikes.
'Everyone is speaking about Iran now,' said Mr Khalil al-Halabi, a 71-year-old retired UN official living in a damaged home in Gaza City. 'Gaza has become a secondary matter.'
Aid distribution sites in Gaza have been shuttered since June 13 morning, which was shortly after the initial Israeli attacks on Iran began.
Finding flour, Mr al-Halabi said, had become a nightmare for his family, with some street vendors selling a 55-pound sack for more than $350 dollars.
More concerning, he said, was that the Israel-Iran conflict could undermine desperately needed efforts to hammer out a ceasefire in Gaza.
Repeated efforts to clinch a deal between Israel and Hamas have failed in recent months, with Israel saying it would end the war only after dismantling Hamas, and Hamas saying it will not surrender.
Mr Sharif al-Buheisi, 56, a resident of Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, said he thought the war would continue regardless of the fight between Israel and Iran.
'Israel and Hamas are in agreement about the continuation of the war,' he said. 'They both benefit in their own way.'
Still, Mr al-Buheisi, who was a university administrator before the war, said that any diminished focus on Gaza would have negative consequences for Palestinians. He argued that Israel would now be able to make contentious moves 'without a real response from the international community.'
In particular, he said, he worried that the international community would not put enough pressure on Israel to fix the new system for delivering aid to Palestinians, which has had a chaotic and often deadly rollout.
Mr Al-Buheisi, who said he has hypertension, said the system was not an option for him because he could not fight through frequently unruly crowds of people to get a box of handout food.
Since the new aid effort began in May, scores of hungry and desperate Palestinians have been killed or wounded on their way to collect parcels of food at aid distribution sites in Gaza, which is operated by American security contractors. Palestinian witnesses say at least some of them were killed by Israeli soldiers who guard the perimeters of these aid sites.
The Israeli military has said that its forces have fired warning shots toward people advancing in what was described as a threatening manner.
Mr Al-Halabi, the former UN official, said the world's shifting attention was a reminder of the helpless situation of Palestinians in Gaza.
'We're living through misery here,' he said. 'But what can we do?' NYTIMES
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