ActionAid stands in unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organisations Network (PNGO) and the courageous humanitarian workers in Gaza and the West Bank. On this World Humanitarian Day, we honor the 250 aid workers who have been brutally killed in Gaza, and we give our full solidarity to the PNGO in their call for a one-hour work suspension and protest against the relentless Israeli government aggression that has continued unabated for over ten months.
The situation in Gaza is nothing short of catastrophic. The Israeli government’s persistent assaults on civilians and the deliberate targeting of humanitarian workers are blatant violations of international humanitarian law. Humanitarian workers who are risking and losing their lives to save others deserve protection, not persecution. The siege on Gaza, the attacks on aid convoys, and the blockade that prevents life-saving assistance from reaching those in need are crimes that must be condemned in the strongest terms.
The targeting of humanitarian workers is a grave breach of international law. We demand an immediate ceasefire, an end to the blockade in Gaza, and the full protection of all humanitarian personnel and full, unimpeded access to the Gaza Strip so we can fully support our colleagues in this work. The international community must hold the Israeli government accountable for its actions and ensure that humanitarian aid can reach those who are suffering immediately. With the first case of polio now confirmed, it is clear a humanitarian crisis of even greater proportions awaits the already starving, diseased, and beleaguered population of Gaza.
This World Humanitarian Day is not a celebration, it is a call to action. We demand justice, we demand accountability, and we demand the protection of our colleagues and partners.
ENDS
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About ActionAid
ActionAid is a global federation working with more than 41 million people living in more than 71 of the world’s poorest countries. We want to see a just, fair, and sustainable world, in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity, and freedom from poverty and oppression. We work to achieve social justice and gender equality and to eradicate poverty.
