Latest news with #SamRose
Jordan News
02-06-2025
- General
- Jordan News
UNRWA: Gaza Aid Distribution Mechanism Fails to Meet Needs - Jordan News
UNRWA: Gaza Aid Distribution Mechanism Fails to Meet Needs The Director of UNRWA Operations, Sam Rose, stated on Monday that the current methods of distributing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip do not meet the urgent humanitarian needs in the area. اضافة اعلان According to the organization's official website, the UN spokesperson affirmed that during the ceasefire, the United Nations demonstrated its ability to deliver aid safely and on a large scale, reaching people wherever they were. Rose stressed that the current distribution methods fail to meet the urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, especially for the sick, the elderly, and the wounded. He noted that UNRWA is managing the largest UN-led food distribution operation in the world. He added that supplies are ready, and what is needed now is access to deliver the aid directly to those in need — there is no time to waste. UNRWA reiterated that the Gaza Strip is in dire need of urgent humanitarian assistance, emphasizing the necessity of allowing the uninterrupted and unhindered flow of aid supplies. — Petra
The National
09-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
UNRWA director accuses Israel of letting food rot at Gaza border
Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza The expelled director of the UN's Palestinian relief agency (UNRWA) in Gaza has accused Israel of allowing food to rot as it blockades the enclave. Sam Rose left Gaza in March after the ceasefire agreement broke down, and Israel re-imposed its siege of the strip. He has not been able to re-enter due to Israel's ban on UNRWA, which came into effect in January. The length of the blockade was 'unprecedented', he said. Aid that had been stalled at the Egyptian border crossing to Gaza was incurring storage fees and food was 'rotting'. "This blockade is coming into effect after 19 months of war ... and the most rapid descent of a population into severe food insecurity in recorded history," he said. The situation has been compounded by Israel's outlawing of UNRWA, which prevents Israeli officials from engaging with members of the agency, including its aid convoys that previously entered the strip through the Rafah Crossing. 'The ban on UNRWA activities on the sovereign territory of Israel … shouldn't impact our operations in Gaza, because Gaza is not the sovereign territory of Israel. But the reality is that these laws impact everything that we do,' Mr Rose said at the British Palestine Project annual conference in London. Mr Rose has been meeting ministers and diplomats in the UK to warn them of the ban's acute humanitarian implications which are already being felt on the ground. He was optimistic about the UK government's continued political and financial support for the agency, despite domestic pressures causing the UK to scale back on overseas aid. The UK 'are doing lots behind the scenes', he told The National. 'They're doing the right thing, but in an environment where aid budgets have been reduced.' Three UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem were closed down on Thursday by Israeli security forces as a result of the ban, prompting a joint statement from the UK, the EU and other European governments condemning the move. The UK's government restored funding to UNRWA after it came to power in July last year, and has been a vocal critic of a new Israeli law that prevents the agency from operating in Israel and, by extension, Gaza. Prime Minister Keir Starmer met Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in April, and announced a £101 million support package for the Palestinian Authority. His government has committed £51 million in support for UNRWA since coming to power. But Mr Starmer has also come under increasing pressure from MPs within its Labour party to take more urgent action against Israel, in the form of sanctions or a more extensive arms embargo. The UK is being asked to 'convene a coalition of like-minded states' that would pressure Israel and demand an immediate unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, by the British Palestine Project, UK charity founded by former British diplomats, who issued a statement on Thursday. Mr Rose said UNRWA could not be replaced and its institutions, developed over decades and integrated in Palestinian lives, 'can only really be taken over by a functioning state'. The agency's presence in Gaza was essential for its healthcare and education systems, which had been built through 'billions' of international funding, including from the UK, he said. 'If you're a kid in an UNRWA shelter, if the teacher sees that you're not doing too well, they'll refer you to a medic and refer you to a social worker or someone who can get you cash assistance. Other organisations don't work in that integrated kind of way,' he told The National. Another key concern is the future of the agency's archive, compiled over decades, which is vital to chronicling the Palestinian refugee crisis. 'Refugees are registered with UNRWA for services, and that registration archive constitutes a key part of Palestinian culture and heritage that will inform any compensation or settlement process,' he said. A portion of its administrative records were held in Gaza when the war broke out and has since been moved to an undisclosed location. 'We have those records and we have the archive. They're all digital. We managed to get them out of Gaza during the war,' Mr Rose said. Israel has tried to end UNRWA's programme since it accused some agency members of participating in the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. A UN inquiry last year said Israel had not submitted evidence to support its allegations, but made key recommendations aimed at reforming the agency in the long term. Then in January, the Israeli government approved a new law that would prevent Israeli officials from engaging with UNRWA and, by extension, aid agencies that work with it. 'The intent of the law is clear,' Mr Rose said. 'It's to dismantle UNRWA as an organisation and undermine the rights of return of the Palestinians and the international legal frameworks for the Palestinian issue.' Since it came into effect, UNRWA staff have been 'routinely harassed and abused' and were banned from leading missions into Gaza city. The ban was compounded by Israel's siege on Gaza since it resumed it military operations in March, after a six-week ceasefire broke down. The agency had managed to continue operating in a diminished capacity, with 25,000 children learning in UNRWA schools that were not under bombardment and 'hundreds of thousands' more shifting to online learning. But Mr Rose warned that the 'informal learning' was simply to give 'children a bit of structure' and a 'sense of normality in these awful conditions'. Families that went home during the ceasefire were now back in tents. Until a week ago, soup kitchens providing free meals could supply one million meals a day, but they are now down to 400,000 a day, he said. The average Gazan was surviving on six litres of water, 'not enough to flush a toilet', he added.
Al Jazeera
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Will the ICJ hold Israel to account?
The Hague is hearing another case against Israel in what could be a test of Israeli defiance of international law. The International Court of Justice is holding hearings this week to determine what responsibilities Israel has to ensure aid gets to Palestinians in territory it occupies. But Israel has shown in the past it has no issue with ignoring international law or court rulings. So will any of these decisions have an impact on the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza struggling to find food under an Israeli blockade that's now lasted nearly two months? Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault Guests: Sam Rose – senior acting director, UNRWA Affairs in Gaza Michael Lynk – human rights lawyer and professor emeritus, Faculty of Law, Western University in London, Ontario Gideon Levy – columnist, Haaretz newspaper
Asharq Al-Awsat
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
UN Warns of ‘Massive Trauma' for Gaza's Children amid Renewed Fighting
The UN warned Friday that all of Gaza's approximately one million children were facing "massive trauma" as fighting in the war-ravaged territory resumed, and amid dire aid shortages. Humanitarians described an alarming situation in Gaza, amid a growing civilian death toll since Israel resumed aerial bombardment and ground operations this week after a six-week ceasefire. Sam Rose, the senior deputy field director in Gaza for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, highlighted the psychological shock for already traumatized children to once again find themselves beneath the bombs. This is a "massive, massive trauma for the one million children" living in the Palestinian territory, he told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Gaza. The breakdown of the ceasefire that took effect on January 19 comes as the population is already dramatically weakened from 15 months of brutal war sparked by Hamas's deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. "It's worse this time," Rose warned, "because people are already exhausted, they're already degraded, their immune systems, their mental health, (and) populations on the verge of famine. "Children who had come back to school after 18 months out of school, now back in tents,... hearing the bombardment around them constantly. "It's fear on top of fear, cruelty on top of cruelty, and tragedy on top of tragedy." James Elder, a spokesman for the UN children's agency UNICEF, said traumatized children usually only start to process their trauma when they begin returning to normalcy. "Psychologists would say our absolute nightmare is that they return home and then it starts again," he told reporters. "That's the terrain that we've now entered," he said, warning that Gaza was the only "example in modern history in terms of an entire child population needing mental health support". "That's no exaggeration." Gaza's civil defense agency said 504 people had been killed since Tuesday, including more than 190 under the age of 18. The toll is among the highest since the war started more than 17 months ago with Hamas's attack on Israel. It has also been a deadly period for humanitarians, with seven UNRWA staff killed just since the ceasefire broke down, bring the total number killed from that agency alone to 284 since the Gaza war began. A Bulgarian worker with another UN agency was also killed this week, as was a local staff member of Doctors Without Borders, the medical charity said Friday. Humanitarians warned the situation on the ground has been made worse by Israel's decision earlier this month to cut off aid and electricity to Gaza over the deadlock in negotiations to prolong the ceasefire. "We were able to bring in more supplies in during the six weeks of the ceasefire than ... in the previous six months," Rose said, warning though that that progress was "being reversed". Currently, he said, there is only enough flour supply in Gaza for another six days. Asked about Israel's charge that Hamas has diverted the more than sufficient aid inside Gaza, Rose said he had "not seen any evidence" of that. "There is no aid being distributed right now, so there is nothing to steal." He warned though that if aid is not restored, "we will see a gradual slide back into what we saw in the worst days of the conflict in terms of looting ... and desperate conditions among the population". Elder meanwhile described the vital aid items that aid agencies were unable to bring into Gaza. "We've got 180,000 doses of vaccines a few kilometers away that are life-saving and are blocked," he said. He also pointed to a "massive shortage" of incubators in Gaza even as pre-term births were surging. "We have dozens of them, again sitting across the border," he said. "Blocked ventilators for babies."
Arab News
21-03-2025
- Health
- Arab News
UN warns of ‘massive trauma' for Gaza's children
GENEVA: The UN warned Friday that all Gaza's approximately 1 million children were facing 'massive trauma' as fighting in the war-ravaged territory resumed and amid dire aid shortages. Humanitarians described an alarming situation in Gaza amid a growing civilian death toll since Israel resumed aerial bombardment and ground operations this week after a six-week ceasefire. Sam Rose, the senior deputy field director in Gaza for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, highlighted the psychological shock for already traumatized children to once again find themselves beneath the bombs. This is a 'massive, massive trauma for the 1 million children' living in the Palestinian territory, he told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Gaza. The breakdown of the ceasefire that took effect on Jan. 19 comes as the population is already dramatically weakened from 15 months of brutal war sparked by Hamas's deadly Oct, 7, 2023 attack on Israel. 'It's worse this time,' Rose warned, 'because people are already exhausted, they're already degraded, their immune systems, their mental health, (and) population's on the verge of famine. 'Children who had returned to school after 18 months out of school, now back in tents, ... hearing the bombardment around them constantly. 'It's fear on top of fear, cruelty on top of cruelty, and tragedy on top of tragedy.' James Elder, a spokesman for the UN children's agency UNICEF, said traumatized children usually only start to process their trauma when they begin returning to normalcy. 'Psychologists would say our absolute nightmare is that they return home and then it starts again,' he told reporters. 'That's the terrain that we've now entered,' he said, warning that Gaza was the only 'example in modern history in terms of an entire child population needing mental health support.' 'That's no exaggeration.' Gaza's civil defense agency said 504 people had been killed since Tuesday, including more than 190 under the age of 18. The toll is among the highest since the war started more than 17 months ago with Hamas's attack on Israel. It has also been a deadly period for humanitarians, with seven UNRWA staff killed just since the ceasefire broke down, bringing the total number killed from that agency alone to 284 since the Gaza war began. A Bulgarian worker with another UN agency was also killed this week, as was a local staff member of Doctors Without Borders, the medical charity said Friday. Humanitarians warned the situation on the ground has been made worse by Israel's decision earlier this month to cut off aid and electricity to Gaza over the deadlock in negotiations to prolong the ceasefire. 'We were able to bring in more supplies during the six weeks of the ceasefire than ... in the previous six months,' Rose said, warning though that that progress was 'being reversed.' He said there was only enough flour in Gaza for another six days. Asked about Israel's charge that Hamas has diverted more than sufficient aid inside Gaza, Rose said he had 'not seen any evidence' of that. 'There is no aid being distributed right now, so there is nothing to steal.' He warned, though, that if aid is not restored, 'we will see a gradual slide back into what we saw in the worst days of the conflict in terms of looting ... and desperate conditions among the population.' Meanwhile, Elder described the vital aid items that aid agencies could not bring into Gaza. 'We've got 180,000 doses of vaccines a few kilometers away that are life-saving and are blocked,' he said. He also pointed to a 'massive shortage' of incubators in Gaza even as pre-term births were surging. 'We have dozens of them, again sitting across the border,' he said. 'Blocked ventilators for babies.'
