Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel

On the deadline for compliance to the US Secretary of Defense letter demanding Israel to provide concrete measures to reverse the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza, today, Tuesday, November 12, Oxfam and seven humanitarian organizations have released a scorecard assessing progress against these measures over the past 30 days, concluding that Israel has failed to comply with its ally’s demands – at enormous human cost for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Reaction to the Knesset passing bills banning UNRWA from operating in areas under Israel’s control.

The Israeli forces’ assault on Gaza has escalated to a horrifying level of atrocity. Northern Gaza is being wiped off the map. Under the guise of “evacuation,” Israeli forces have ordered the forced displacement of an estimated 400,000 Palestinians trapped in northern Gaza, including Gaza City. This is not an evacuation—this is forced displacement under gunfire.

The Lebanese authorities, communities and humanitarian agencies are struggling to shelter and provide the necessities of life to over one million people fleeing Israel’s airstrikes and invasion to the south, Oxfam said today. 

 The UN Security Council (UNSC) is failing people living in conflict, with Russia and the United States particularly responsible for abusing their veto power which is blocking progress toward peace in Ukraine, Syria, and the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel. Ahead of the UN Summit for the Future, Oxfam calls for reform of the UN Security Council to stop the “Permanent Five” from being their own “judge and jury”.

In response to the UN General Assembly’s overwhelming support for a resolution to implement the International Court of Justice’s opinion on the illegality of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territory, Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa Director Sally Abi Khalil said: “This historic vote has shown that the international community overwhelmingly recognises its obligations in ensuring the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and an immediate end to Israel’s illegal occupation.  

Starvation is being used as a weapon of war against Gaza civilians, Oxfam said today as it renewed its call for food, water, fuel and other essentials to be allowed to enter.  

Shane Stevenson, Oxfam Country Director for the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel said:   

“Finally, for the first of 12 consecutive nights, two million Palestinians in Gaza, including hundreds of thousands of traumatized children, can rest rather than lie awake in fear as bombs fly over their homes.  And civilians across Israel will be spared the threat of rocket attacks.  

Ahead of foreign affairs ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday, where discussions will include the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the wider region, Agnès Bertrand-Sanz, Oxfam humanitarian expert, said: 

“The discussions happening today behind closed doors have an impact on real people, people who are facing the unimaginable. Yet, Europe’s response is often lethargic – recently exemplified by their lack of response to Israel’s banning of UNRWA.

In response to the latest Israeli attack on the Al-Mawasi so-called “safe zone”, as described by Israel, Oxfam’s Regional Director for the Middle East, Sally Abi Khalil, said: “Once again, we are witnessing the absolute disregard Israel has for Palestinian lives and for international law.