‘This is a humanitarian catastrophe,’ says Toronto-based organization working to get aid into Gaza | CBC News
[ad_1]
Two Toronto-area organizations are working to get aid to those affected in Gaza and Israel as the civilian death toll continues to rise — but with no current access point to delivering those supplies to Gaza, one group says the need is growing more urgent by the minute.
“We’re really worried about the 2.3 million people that are in Gaza,” said Rahul Singh, executive director of Global Medic, a humanitarian aid organization based in Etobicoke.
“There’s no electricity, there’s no fuel, There’s no clean drinking water. This is a humanitarian catastrophe.”
Israel, more than a week after Hamas’s deadly attack, has put Gaza under a total blockade and pounded the crowded Palestinian enclave with air strikes.
As of Tuesday, the number of people killed in Gaza has reached 3,000 with more than 12,500 wounded, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Of those, more than 1,000 children were killed by Israeli airstrikes.
Israeli officials have said more than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel and another 3,400 people have been injured. The Israeli military said Monday at least 199 hostages, including children, were taken into Gaza — more than previously estimated. Hamas said it was holding 200 to 250 hostages.
Singh says he led a team in 2008 that entered into Gaza through the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only connection to Egypt, helping set up water purification units and provide relief in hospitals and clinics.
The group’s first focus now is providing clean, drinking water to those in Gaza. The organization is preparing family emergency kits, which include water purification units, hygiene items and solar power, to ship to Egypt – and eventually, if the access point to Gaza opens, get them to Gazans in need.
Essential items shipped to Israelis affected
Steve McDonald, vice president of marketing and communications at the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) Federation of Greater Toronto, says the organization has raised $54 million in donations to send to Israel.
“Our focus is first and foremost on the humanitarian needs,” McDonald said.
UJA, which raises money to support Jewish communities in Toronto and globally, says the funds will go toward things like mental health supports, protective gear, and emergency medical kits for first responders.
“One of the things our partners have said is that they need more medical supplies and that was our first priority,” McDonald told CBC Toronto.
“Things like medical supplies such as gauze, bandages, Polysporin, Advil, but also basic goods like socks, underwear.”
McDonald says the organization has also already shipped a plane-full of supplies to Israeli civilians.
Humanitarian corridor needed to reach Gazans
Jon Allen, former Canadian Ambassador to Israel and senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy in Toronto, says a humanitarian corridor is necessary to bring essential items across to Gaza.
“The bottom line is that these people are under bombardment,” Allen told CBC Toronto.
“They are suffering, not only death but illness. Hospitals are short medicines, hospitals are short of electricity, they’re short of food and we need a humanitarian corridor to get those supplies in as fast as possible.”
Featured VideoThe WHO has asked repeatedly for critical aid, including medicine, to be allowed to flow from Egypt into Gaza via the Rafah border crossing, a top regional official says. ‘If it is delayed, we are losing a lot of lives.’
The World Health Organization (WHO), along with humanitarian groups, have asked repeatedly for critical aid supplies to be allowed to flow from Egypt into Gaza via the Rafah border crossing, to desperate civilians, aid groups and hospitals in the tiny Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday, the World Food Program (WFP) said Tuesday that it had more than 300 tonnes of food waiting to cross into Gaza.
”No one is giving up on the hope that this would be open,” said WFP official Abeer Etefa.
Singh says the need for food, water, and medical supplies is becoming more urgent each day, especially with no way to deliver them into Gaza.
“Right now, there’s a lot of hurry up and wait because [the] access point is not open,” Singh said.
“There’s 2.3 million people that are in trouble, and every minute that passes … they’re in more trouble. We can amass everything at one side of the border, but it’s kind of useless till it actually gets in.”
After shipping this first round of kits, Singh says Global Medic will then shift its attention to providing food items and essential aid for hospitals, which could run out of supplies at any point.
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on Monday for a humanitarian corridor to be opened into the Gaza Strip.
Trudeau announced last Thursday the Canadian government will provide an initial $10 million in humanitarian assistance to address “urgent needs” in Israel and the Gaza Strip. A portion of the funding will support the Canadian Red Cross and its partners — the Palestine Red Crescent Society and Magen David Adom — but it is unclear how much funding each region will receive.
[ad_2]
