Latest news with #LizAllcock
The National
22-07-2025
- Health
- The National
Gaza clinics shut and aid warehouse raided as Israel intensifies attacks on Deir Al Balah
A British charity has accused Israel of 'accelerating the systemic dismantling' of Gaza 's healthcare system after its clinic in Deir Al Balah was forced to close as Israel widens its military offensive. Medical Aid for Palestinians' staff were given only six hours to evacuate by the Israelis, according to Liz Allcock, the charity's head of humanitarian protection. Shelling is now taking place around the premises. 'Nine clinics, five shelters, and a vital community kitchen have been forced to shut down,' the group said. The facilities affected include a polyclinic that provides life-saving help along with physiotherapy and mental health services to an average of 320 patients a day. The closure comes after the Israeli army launched ground operations in Deir Al Balah, an area of central Gaza it had not entered since the Gaza war began. Deir Al Balah plays host to most of the UN and international aid agencies operating in the enclave. It was previously designated a safe zone by Israel. The clearance of the area means 88 per cent of Gaza is now under some sort of eviction order by Israel. A World Health Organisation (WHO) aid warehouse also fell victim to the Israeli military operation on Monday night when it was raided by Israeli forces. Male staff and family members were 'handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot and screened at gunpoint', the WHO said in a statement. One staff member is still in detention. The warehouse was also sheltering displaced civilians. Women and children were told to move south towards Al Mawasi, where Israel's defence minister has announced plans for a camp to house 600,000 Palestinians. The living quarters of the staff were attacked three times, while air strikes caused fires and extensive damage to the warehouse, the WHO said. 'The Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot towards Al Mawasi amid active conflict,' it added. The WHO called the episode 'part of a pattern of systemic destruction of health facilities'. Israel has sought to shift aid operations in Gaza away from the UN and other established humanitarian groups by launching the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US and Israel-backed group. But the GHF's operations have been marred by deaths near its aid sites, with the Israeli military accused of repeatedly opening fire on Palestinian civilians seeking supplies. More than 1,000 people have been killed since the end of May while seeking food from the GHF, the UN says. Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to worsen, with reports of children starving to death. Essential workers are fainting on duty due to hunger, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) chief Philippe Lazzarini said on Tuesday. The threat of air strikes was adding to the danger, added Ms Allcock. 'You cannot deliver medicine, water or nutritional supplements while under attack, or drive ambulances on streets with ground troops,' she said. But many workers were carrying on regardless, she added. 'People are telling us they'd rather die from bombing than slowly through starvation.'
The National
22-07-2025
- Health
- The National
Clinics shut down and aid warehouse raided as Israel intensifies attacks on Deir Al Balah
A British charity has accused Israel of 'accelerating the systemic dismantling' of Gaza 's healthcare system after its clinic in Deir Al Balah was forced to close as Israel widens its military offensive. Medical Aid for Palestinians' staff were given only six hours to evacuate by the Israelis, according to Liz Allcock, the charity's head of humanitarian protection. Shelling is now taking place around the premises. 'Nine clinics, five shelters, and a vital community kitchen have been forced to shut down,' the group said. The facilities affected include a polyclinic that provides life-saving help along with physiotherapy and mental health services to an average of 320 patients a day. The closure comes after the Israeli army launched ground operations in Deir Al Balah, an area of central Gaza it had not entered since the Gaza war began. Deir Al Balah plays host to most of the UN and international aid agencies operating in the enclave. It was previously designated a safe zone by Israel. The clearance of the area means 88 per cent of Gaza is now under some sort of eviction order by Israel. A World Health Organisation (WHO) aid warehouse also fell victim to the Israeli military operation on Monday night when it was raided by Israeli forces. Male staff and family members were 'handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot and screened at gunpoint', the WHO said in a statement. One staff member is still in detention. The warehouse was also sheltering displaced civilians. Women and children were told to move south towards Al Mawasi, where Israel's defence minister has announced plans for a camp to house 600,000 Palestinians. The living quarters of the staff were attacked three times, while air strikes caused fires and extensive damage to the warehouse, the WHO said. 'The Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot towards Al Mawasi amid active conflict,' it added. The WHO called the episode 'part of a pattern of systemic destruction of health facilities'. Israel has sought to shift aid operations in Gaza away from the UN and other established humanitarian groups by launching the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US and Israel-backed group. But the GHF's operations have been marred by deaths near its aid sites, with the Israeli military accused of repeatedly opening fire on Palestinian civilians seeking supplies. More than 1,000 people have been killed since the end of May while seeking food from the GHF, the UN says. Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to worsen, with reports of children starving to death. Essential workers are fainting on duty due to hunger, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) chief Philippe Lazzarini said on Tuesday. The threat of air strikes was adding to the danger, added Ms Allcock. 'You cannot deliver medicine, water or nutritional supplements while under attack, or drive ambulances on streets with ground troops,' she said. But many workers were carrying on regardless, she added. 'People are telling us they'd rather die from bombing than slowly through starvation.'
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Aid groups warn of 'dire' conditions in Gaza as Israel says there is no shortage of aid
Children crowding around a charity kitchen holding empty pots and pans clamoring for food to take to their families. Hours spent in search of clean water and scouring piles of garbage looking for trash to burn for a fire to cook or keep warm. These scenes, which NBC News' crew in the Gaza Strip captured over the past week, come as humanitarian agencies sound the alarm over a dire and worsening situation in in the Palestinian enclave as Israel enforces a blockade on food, water, fuel, medical supplies and other aid and goods. Israeli officials maintain there is "no shortage" of aid in Gaza and accuse Hamas of withholding supplies. Israel says its blockade is crucial to its goal of weakening the militant group's control over the population. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Food Programme (WFP) told NBC News they had seen "no evidence" of a diversion of aid in Gaza. Both warned that supplies in the enclave were running out. Humanitarian groups describe a spiraling crisis on the ground, with bakeries shuttered for weeks because of a lack of wheat, food parcels for families running out, supplies of hot meals dwindling and medical supplies drying up. "In terms of humanitarian supplies ... I mean, to say dwindling would be putting it nicely," Liz Allcock, head of humanitarian protection of Medical Aid for Palestinians, a United Kingdom-based humanitarian organization, told NBC News on Tuesday. 'We're really scraping the barrel in terms of being able to provide anything of substance," Allcock, said, speaking from Gaza. Abeer Etefa, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme, described the situation in Gaza as "dire and worsening," with all WFP-supported bakeries across the territory closing after wheat flour ran out March 31. By early April, she said, the WFP had also exhausted its stocks of food parcels for distribution. "Remaining stocks of hot meals commodities are being dispatched to the kitchens of partners providing hot meals," she said, adding: "We have around 1,000 tons or less left for these hot meals kitchens." The WFP and its partners have 85,000 tons of food waiting to enter the enclave, she said. The Global Nutrition Cluster, a coalition of humanitarian groups, has warned that in March alone, 3,696 children were newly admitted for care for acute malnutrition alone, out of 91,769 children screened — a marked increase from February, when 2,027 children were admitted from a total of 83,823 screened, OCHA said in a report Tuesday. Meanwhile, the United Nations has sounded the alarm that medical supplies in the enclave are running low, while casualties continue to fill hospitals. Etefa added that Israeli military activity across the enclave was affecting humanitarian groups' ability to deliver aid, with the decision to block the flow of aid coming just more than two weeks before Israel shattered its ceasefire with Hamas last month, bringing two months of relative calm in the Gaza Strip to an end. In a statement Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said his country's policy in Gaza was 'clear and unequivocal,' including the policy to stop humanitarian aid, a move he said 'undermines Hamas' control over the population, and creating an infrastructure for distribution through civilian companies later." Meanwhile, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has maintained that there is "no shortage of aid," pointing to the fact that more than 25,000 aid trucks entered the territory during Israel's ceasefire with Hamas. Hamas was withholding supplies from civilians "in order to create an image of shortage," Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein told NBC News on Wednesday without providing evidence. OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said the U.N. body's team on the ground described "no evidence of diversion of aid." Etefa said the WFP also had not seen any evidence, adding that the organization did not experience any looting during the ceasefire. Hamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the accusation. But Thursday, the militant group, which has faced protests calling for its ouster and an end to the war, accused Israel of committing a war crime by "declaring the use of starvation as a weapon." Under international humanitarian law, parties of a conflict cannot use starvation of a civilian population as a method of warfare or deprive civilians of essential supplies as a legitimate means to subdue an enemy. Marmorstein previously denied that Israel is violating international humanitarian law with its blockade in a post on X, saying war parties are not obliged to allow aid in if it is "likely to assist the military or economic efforts of the enemy." The war in Gaza began after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, which killed 1,200 and saw around 250 kidnapped, according to Israeli counts. Israel's military offensive in the enclave since then has killed more than 51,000 people, including thousands of children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, which has been run by Hamas since 2007. Data published by COGAT, the Israeli military's liaison with the Palestinians, shows that 25,200 aid trucks entered Gaza during the ceasefire, carrying more than 447,500 tons of aid into the enclave. Before the war began, around 500 trucks carrying food and other supplies were entering Gaza each day, according to the British Red Cross. This suggests that by prewar standards, the 25,200 trucks that entered during the ceasefire, according to COGAT's data, would likely be sufficient for around 1½ months, a point reached this week. COGAT's database shows 'no data' for aid entering the enclave between March 2 and April 16. Presented with the above data and asked to comment on the current aid situation on the ground, a spokesperson for COGAT told NBC News they could only confirm that more than 25,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza during the ceasefire. The spokesperson referred other questions related to the flow of aid to Israel's political leadership. In a report released this month, the WFP warned that humanitarian aid is the 'primary food source' for 80% of households across Gaza. Meanwhile, it said Israel's closure of crossings into the territory had 'exacerbated the fragility of the Gaza market,' leading prices to soar between 150% and 700% compared with prewar levels, and by 29% to as much as 1,400% above prices during the ceasefire. As officials debate the reality of the situation on the ground, families across the enclave tell NBC News that they are struggling to survive. 'We've been deprived of everything — food, water, school — even clothes,' 12-year-old Hasan Abu Jazar told NBC News' crew on Monday after waiting in line in Al-Mawasi to gather water at an increasingly rare distribution point. "I'm tired."This article was originally published on
NBC News
17-04-2025
- General
- NBC News
Aid groups warn of 'dire' conditions in Gaza as Israel says there is no shortage of aid
Children crowding around a charity kitchen holding empty pots and pans clamoring for food to take to their families. Hours spent in search of clean water and scouring piles of garbage looking for trash to burn for a fire to cook or keep warm. These scenes, which NBC News' crew in the Gaza Strip captured over the past week, come as humanitarian agencies sound the alarm over a dire and worsening situation in in the Palestinian enclave as Israel enforces a blockade on food, water, fuel, medical supplies and other aid and goods. Israeli officials maintain there is "no shortage" of aid in Gaza and accuse Hamas of withholding supplies. Israel says its blockade is crucial to its goal of weakening the militant group's control over the population. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Food Programme (WFP) told NBC News they had seen "no evidence" of a diversion of aid in Gaza. Both warned that supplies in the enclave were running out. 'Scraping the barrel' Humanitarian groups describe a spiraling crisis on the ground, with bakeries shuttered for weeks because of a lack of wheat, food parcels for families running out, supplies of hot meals dwindling and medical supplies drying up. "In terms of humanitarian supplies ... I mean, to say dwindling would be putting it nicely," Liz Allcock, head of humanitarian protection of Medical Aid for Palestinians, a United Kingdom-based humanitarian organization, told NBC News on Tuesday. 'We're really scraping the barrel in terms of being able to provide anything of substance," Allcock, said, speaking from Gaza. Abeer Etefa, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme, described the situation in Gaza as "dire and worsening," with all WFP-supported bakeries across the territory closing after wheat flour ran out March 31. By early April, she said, the WFP had also exhausted its stocks of food parcels for distribution. "Remaining stocks of hot meals commodities are being dispatched to the kitchens of partners providing hot meals," she said, adding: "We have around 1,000 tons or less left for these hot meals kitchens." The WFP and its partners have 85,000 tons of food waiting to enter the enclave, she said. The Global Nutrition Cluster, a coalition of humanitarian groups, has warned that in March alone, 3,696 children were newly admitted for care for acute malnutrition alone, out of 91,769 children screened — a marked increase from February, when 2,027 children were admitted from a total of 83,823 screened, OCHA said in a report Tuesday. Meanwhile, the United Nations has sounded the alarm that medical supplies in the enclave are running low, while casualties continue to fill hospitals. Etefa added that Israeli military activity across the enclave was affecting humanitarian groups' ability to deliver aid, with the decision to block the flow of aid coming just more than two weeks before Israel shattered its ceasefire with Hamas last month, bringing two months of relative calm in the Gaza Strip to an end. Israeli policy on aid In a statement Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said his country's policy in Gaza was 'clear and unequivocal,' including the policy to stop humanitarian aid, a move he said 'undermines Hamas' control over the population, and creating an infrastructure for distribution through civilian companies later." Meanwhile, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has maintained that there is "no shortage of aid," pointing to the fact that more than 25,000 aid trucks entered the territory during Israel's ceasefire with Hamas. Hamas was withholding supplies from civilians "in order to create an image of shortage," Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein told NBC News on Wednesday without providing evidence. OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said the U.N. body's team on the ground described "no evidence of diversion of aid." Etefa said the WFP also had not seen any evidence, adding that the organization did not experience any looting during the ceasefire. Hamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the accusation. But Thursday, the militant group, which has faced protests calling for its ouster and an end to the war, accused Israel of committing a war crime by "declaring the use of starvation as a weapon." Under international humanitarian law, parties of a conflict cannot use starvation of a civilian population as a method of warfare or deprive civilians of essential supplies as a legitimate means to subdue an enemy. Marmorstein previously denied that Israel is violating international humanitarian law with its blockade in a post on X, saying war parties are not obliged to allow aid in if it is "likely to assist the military or economic efforts of the enemy." The war in Gaza began after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, which killed 1,200 and saw around 250 kidnapped, according to Israeli counts. Israel's military offensive in the enclave since then has killed more than 51,000 people, including thousands of children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, which has been run by Hamas since 2007. By the numbers Data published by COGAT, the Israeli military's liaison with the Palestinians, shows that 25,200 aid trucks entered Gaza during the ceasefire, carrying more than 447,500 tons of aid into the enclave. Before the war began, around 500 trucks carrying food and other supplies were entering Gaza each day, according to the British Red Cross. This suggests that by prewar standards, the 25,200 trucks that entered during the ceasefire, according to COGAT's data, would likely be sufficient for around 1½ months, a point reached this week. COGAT 's database shows 'no data' for aid entering the enclave between March 2 and April 16. Presented with the above data and asked to comment on the current aid situation on the ground, a spokesperson for COGAT told NBC News they could only confirm that more than 25,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza during the ceasefire. The spokesperson referred other questions related to the flow of aid to Israel's political leadership. In a report released this month, the WFP warned that humanitarian aid is the 'primary food source' for 80% of households across Gaza. Meanwhile, it said Israel's closure of crossings into the territory had 'exacerbated the fragility of the Gaza market,' leading prices to soar between 150% and 700% compared with prewar levels, and by 29% to as much as 1,400% above prices during the ceasefire. As officials debate the reality of the situation on the ground, families across the enclave tell NBC News that they are struggling to survive. 'We've been deprived of everything — food, water, school — even clothes,' 12-year-old Hasan Abu Jazar told NBC News' crew on Monday after waiting in line in Al-Mawasi to gather water at an increasingly rare distribution point. "I'm tired."
