AID workers have described the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as the “stuff of nightmares” as an Israel-imposed siege on the territory enters its eighth week.
Israel has blocked aid, vital supplies, and commercial goods from entering Gaza since the ceasefire agreement ended last month and has now been accused of “spreading terror” through mass forced displacement orders.
Oxfam said Israel has issued repeated forced displacement orders to clear out civilian populations from its renewed airstrikes and attacks on Gaza since March 18.
The humanitarian aid organisation added that around 70% of the Gaza Strip is under displacement orders or “no go” zones, affecting more than 500,000 people, and pushing many into inhospitable, unsafe and inaccessible areas.
Clemence Lagouardat, Oxfam response lead in Gaza, said that people are living in fear and that it is difficult for aid workers to get the little supplies they have left to people living in makeshift shelters.
“It’s hard to explain just how terrible things are in Gaza at the moment. Our staff and partners are witnessing scenes of carnage and despair every day,” she said.
“People are in terror, fearing for their lives as displacement orders tell them, with little notice, to move with whatever they can carry.
“The restrictions on internal movement are also making it very difficult to carry out vital, life-saving work. With so many people displaced, the strains on dwindling resources and operational needs are massive.
“What little aid we have left inside Gaza is hard to get to people living in makeshift shelters and tents when travel is so dangerous.”
Israel’s blockade of aid, which started on March 2, has forced many humanitarian agencies to pause their operations.
Oxfam and its partners have said they have not received a single aid truck, food parcel, hygiene kit, or any other essential equipment since the siege began.
It added that supplies in Gaza are nearly exhausted, with only a few water tanks remaining in the city.
One Oxfam staff member, who was displaced under fire twice in one week after the forced evacuation of Rafah, said nearly everything had been destroyed.
She described the sounds of gunfire at night and people crying in the street, not knowing where to go.
Another aid worker for the organisation said the experiences were “the stuff of nightmares”, with people crying for help under piles of rubble, and others desperately trying to flee with injured family members.
They added that many others are facing a daily struggle to find anything to drink or eat.
Oxfam added that the recent escalations in efforts by Israel to bombard, deprive, and displace the Palestinian population of Gaza have severely restricted aid efforts from getting to people, who are facing starvation and relentless violence.
Mohammad Nairab, executive manager for the Palestinian Environmental Friends Association (PEF), one of Oxfam’s partners in Gaza, said nothing could prepare Palestinians for the unprecedented war they have endured.
He said: “Since the war resumed, many of our teams have been displaced. We have had to continue our work, despite the lack of safety, as countless people rely on us for water, especially during these dire times.
“Nothing could have prepared us for such an unprecedented war. The damage we face—both psychological and physical—is profound and cannot be easily undone.”
People are struggling to find safe drinking water, with facilities bombed or unable to operate since Israel cut the last remaining electricity supplies needed to run sanitation facilities, Oxfam have said.
The aid organisation added that backup generators are of little use because fuel stores are depleted and the prices of what little food is available have skyrocketed, which has left many people at risk of extreme hunger.
Lagouardat said: “We must see an end to this terror and carnage right now, with a lifting of the siege to allow urgent humanitarian aid to reach all of those in need.”
Oxfam is calling for a renewed and permanent ceasefire, the safe return of Israeli hostages and illegally detained Palestinian prisoners, and immediate and unfettered aid access at scale in Gaza.
The aid organisation has reiterated its call for justice and accountability for all those affected, and state governments should stop selling arms to Israel, risking complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
