Ten international organizations called on Tuesday for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, due to the “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” in the area, which is witnessing a war waged by Israel.
The organizations, including Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, Médecins du Monde, the International Disability Alliance, Action Against Hunger, International Rescue Committee, Islamic Relief France, International Federation for Human Rights, Amnesty International, and the Catholic Committee Against Hunger and Development, said their call was “collective and global” for an immediate ceasefire.
“We are witnessing an all-out war in Gaza, where the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe is unprecedented,” the organizations said in a joint statement.
For his part, the director general of Médecins du Monde, Joelle Vaillancourt, said that “the current situation is worse than it has been in all recent conflicts.”
He stressed that “Gaza was originally a large prison. The prison has been divided into eight densely populated areas that are under fire.” He pointed out that all of the organization’s affiliates are suffering from trauma and do not know where to eat or sleep, like all other residents of Gaza.
For his part, Olivier Ruto, head of operations for the International Rescue Committee, said that Gaza is “undoubtedly the most dangerous place in the world for humanitarian workers,” noting that these workers themselves “are following the logic of survival” with “increasing concern” due to hunger.
On Monday, Human Rights Watch said that Israel is deliberately using “starving civilians as a weapon of war.”
Isabelle Duporge, head of Doctors Without Borders, described the situation as “hopeless” in the overcrowded hospitals. She said that “a quarter of the patients treated by Doctors Without Borders are children under the age of 12,” half are under the age of 18, and three-quarters are women and children.”
