Three weeks have now passed since the world called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza at the UN Security Council, yet for three weeks, that demand has been ignored and unenforced. The resolution should have sparked concerted action to end months of bloodshed and trauma in Gaza, but instead, the bombing has continued unabated. The last three weeks alone have seen over a thousand more Palestinians in Gaza killed while its starving population has been pushed closer to the brink of famine.
The binding resolution passed at the Security Council emphasized the urgent need for more aid to enter Gaza, yet since it was issued, only around 173 trucks of aid have entered on average each day, data from UNRWA shows – a figure well below what is required to meet the overwhelming and desperate humanitarian need after six months of catastrophic crisis.
The absence of action to implement this resolution, which risks undermining the important role of the Security Council, is inconceivable. Voting for a ceasefire is not enough: states cannot claim the moral high ground unless they take tangible and effective measures to bring about a ceasefire, such as ceasing arms transfers to Israel and implementing sanctions. The already catastrophic conditions in Gaza are worsening by the day, while the risk of wider regional conflict is growing. Only a permanent and immediate ceasefire will stop more lives from being needlessly lost and guarantee that aid on the enormous scale required can reach those in urgent need.
ENDS
For media requests, please email Jenna.Farineau@actionaid.org or call 202-731-9593.
Spokespeople are available:
- Niranjali Amerasinghe, Executive Director of ActionAid USA
- Riham Jafari, Coordinator of Advocacy and Communication for ActionAid Palestine
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.
