Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel

The destruction of critical water and sanitation infrastructure by the Israeli forces along with severe over-crowding, malnutrition and heat is pushing Gaza to the brink of a deadly epidemic outbreak, Oxfam warned today. 

In reaction to Israel’s imminent invasion of Rafah, Sally Abi-Khalil, Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Director said: “We are horrified by Israel’s order to evacuate around 100,000 people and what appears to be an impending invasion of Rafah, despite a universal plea from world leaders urging it to stop its continued, barbaric, onslaught.  

Israeli authorities have rejected a warehouse full of international aid including oxygen, incubators and Oxfam water and sanitation gear all of which is now stockpiled at Al Arish just 40 km away from the border of 2.3 million desperate Palestinians in Gaza. In a new report today, Oxfam said this rejected aid was just one example of an overall humanitarian response that Israel has made so dangerous and dysfunctional as to be impossible for aid agencies to work at the speed and scale necessary to save lives, despite best efforts. 

 Gaza farmers’ two-month-long “golden time” of agricultural production has been destroyed by Israel’s military bombing and sealing of northern Gaza, ruining the enclave’s richest farmlands which are one of its biggest sources of fruit and vegetables. 

CEOs of Oxfam together with humanitarian and human rights organizations are appalled by the harrowing developments in Rafah, Gaza’s most populated area where 1.5 million people are sheltering as their last resort - over half a million of them children. If Israel launches its proposed ground offensive, thousands more civilians will be killed and the current trickle of humanitarian aid risks coming to a complete halt.

Oxfam among 20 aid organizations deeply concerned and outraged that some of the largest donors have suspended funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the main aid provider for millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the region. These aid cuts come amid a rapidly worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. 

In reaction to today’s statement by the International Court of Justice order to South Africa’s court case, which requests Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent and punish the commission of all acts about the articles of the Genocide Convention, Sally Abi-Kahli, Oxfam Regional Director for the Middle East said: “Oxfam welcomes the ICJ’s order and provisional measures as a crucial step towards recognizing the ongoing atrocities in Gaza and stopping the bloodshed and unimaginable horrors that 2.3 million Palestinians have already endured. 

Oxfam and over 20 other organizations call on all States to immediately halt the transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition to Israel and Palestinian armed groups while there is risk they are used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law.

In response to the announcement of the release of hostages and prisoners, and of the four-day humanitarian pause to escalated hostilities in Gaza, agreed today between Hamas and the Government of Israel, Oxfam’s Humanitarian Director, Marta Valdez Garcia, said: “We welcome that fact that a number of the Israeli and foreign national hostages will be released. This deal allows much-needed time for families on both sides to be reunited, celebrate the safe return of their loved ones, and mourn those they have lost. It would be optimistic to see this as the beginning of a road toward a permanent ceasefire – but that looks distant.