SHOVED into the background by the United States and Israel’s war on Iran is the humanitarian crisis that continues to engulf the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian territory is still threatened by food, medicine and fuel shortages, as Israel continues to control the entry of aid deliveries.
Around 1.9 million Gazans have lost their homes and live in miserable conditions.
Reconstruction efforts have not gotten off the ground, and plans for a post-war Gaza are dead in the water.
Gaza is also in the middle of a particularly harsh winter, compounding what the Unicef said were “high levels of malnutrition” among children in the strip.
“Too many children in Gaza are still facing hunger, illness and exposure to cold temperatures, conditions that are putting their lives at risk. Every minute counts to protect these children,” the UN agency said.
Thousands of families huddle in makeshift shelters “without warm clothes, blankets or protection from the elements, while heavy rains have washed waste and sewage through floodwaters and into populated areas,” it added.
United Nations spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said “ongoing restrictions on aid operations” were “worsening an already critical humanitarian situation.”
Between Feb. 27 and March 5, just more than 3,400 pallets of aid were offloaded at Gaza’s crossings, according to an update published March 6 by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. That comes up to around 485 pallets per day.
Late last year, US President Donald Trump announced a 20-point formula to transform Gaza into “a deradicalized, terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors.”
The plan called for Hamas to free all its hostages in its custody in exchange for Israel’s release of 250 prisoners and 1,700 Gazans who were detained during the offensive in the enclave.
After the hostage-prisoner swap, Israel was to withdraw all its forces from Gaza, and would be replaced by an Arab-led, 20,000-strong International Stabilization Force, or ISF.
Indonesia, Morocco, and several countries have offered troops for the ISF, but wanted a clear mandate before committing.
The withdrawal would clear the way for a massive humanitarian effort and the eventual reconstruction of the devastated enclave.
A “Board of Peace” to be headed by Trump would oversee the plan’s implementation and govern the territory until a reformed Palestinian Authority is ready to take over.
Negotiations never went past the hostage-prisoner exchange, snagged over arguments involving the decommissioning of Hamas. Israel insists it will not pull out its forces in Gaza unless the militant group disarms first.
The standoff has given Israel free rein to maintain boots on the ground in Gaza and to sustain its offensive to wipe out Hamas.
Last week, an Israeli air strike on a building suspected to be a Hamas hideout in Gaza City sparked a fire that razed through tents that sheltered displaced Palestinian families.
Things took a turn for the worse on March 1, when Israel closed the Rafah border crossing, Gaza’s key link to Egypt, through which the bulk of humanitarian aid flows.
Israeli authorities said the closure was part of “necessary security adjustments” implemented following the start of the war on Iran on Feb. 28.
Following an appeal by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Israel said it would reopen another entry point, the Karem Abu Salem crossing, to allow for the “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the territory.
Hamas, meanwhile, is reportedly trying to capitalize on the shift of international attention to the war on Iran to create maneuvering space to salvage whatever military clout it has left.
There is clearly a lack of commitment from all parties to establish even a semblance of order, if not peace, in Gaza. Without that commitment, no resolution could take root.
With the US and Israel vowing to hit harder against Iran, and Tehran targeting more Gulf countries, the prospects of a region-wide conflict loom ever larger. Gaza could become a war within a war, a conflict that grinds on with no clear outcome in sight.
We cannot allow the people of Gaza to be the victims of a forever war.
