Limited military pauses in Gaza are a piecemeal distraction that do not lift the death sentence for those starving

In response to the announcement of limited military pauses in Gaza to enable the delivery of aid, Elizabeth Funnell, Middle East representative for the Catholic aid agency CAFOD, said:

“Efforts to scale up aid are a small step, as are those to provide respite from the relentless military operations. Piecemeal actions must not be a distraction from the goal of securing a full ceasefire - which is the only way to enable the entry of aid at the scale that is needed. Israel’s refusal to allow unrestricted aid at scale, through safe and principled mechanisms in Gaza, is increasing the number of deaths amongst innocent civilians. For Palestinians, the simple act of trying to feed their families has become a death sentence.

“In a heart-breaking reflection shared by partner staff in Gaza, they remarked with bitter irony:

‘Those who died at the beginning of the war are, in a way, the lucky ones.
At least they were spared the slow, humiliating death by hunger that we are now left to endure.’

“Parachuting a miniscule amount of humanitarian aid into a conflict zone full of starving people is not a solution. The inevitable desperate rush to source food could further endanger lives, and the most vulnerable people will most likely miss out.

“We welcomed the joint statement by the UK and dozens of other countries, of 21 July, calling on the Israeli government to lift restrictions on the flow of aid immediately and urgently enable the UN and humanitarian agencies to do their life saving work safely and effectively. The UK must now follow through with its commitment to take further action to end the blockade; facilitate a full and permanent ceasefire; allow full and unimpeded access of aid at scale, and end UK arms sales to Israel.

“This must happen now, before there is nobody left to save.”