Reports from the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt indicate that crucial humanitarian supplies from Morocco and Egypt are unable to reach those who need them most. People in Gaza are on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe, desperately in need of food and water to survive.
The Israeli government is warning of a forthcoming land, sea, and air offensive, that will endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and is drawing condemnation as a potential breach of international law. ActionAid implores them to pull back from this threat.
The Rafah border crossing, currently the sole passage out of Gaza for millions, has been closed for an extended period, cutting off the population from much-needed humanitarian assistance and any ability to comply with evacuation orders.
Right now in Gaza, women, children, the elderly, and the wounded need food and water. We call on the Egyptian government to open the Rafah border crossing to allow life-saving relief to those in desperate need.
The people of Gaza are facing dire circumstances. Families are going without meals, and the lack of clean water is posing a severe health risk to the already extremely vulnerable population. The lives of countless individuals are hanging in the balance. A humanitarian disaster looms large, and the international community must unite to prevent it. Immediate action is needed.
We are ready to support efforts to provide essential aid to the people of Gaza to help alleviate their suffering during this critical time.
ENDS
Notes to editor
Riham Jafari, ActionAid Palestine’s Coordinator of Advocacy and Communications, is available for interview on request.
For media requests, please email Christal.James@actionaid.org or call 704 665 9743.
About ActionAid
ActionAid is a global federation working with more than 15 million people living in more than 40 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.