ISTANBUL
Former Irish President Mary Robinson and New Zealand’s former Prime Minister Helen Clark have accused Israel of deliberately continuing to block vital humanitarian aid from reaching the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Robinson and Clark, representing the global leaders group The Elders, visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing last week to check on aid trucks stranded at the border due to Israel’s closure of the Palestinian side of the terminal.
They told reporters on Tuesday that despite some food getting through, a shocking volume of life-saving supplies – generators, wheelchairs, crutches, oxygen cylinders, tents, children’s books – remained undelivered.
“We have been seeing in the warehouse the tents that have not been delivered, the generators that have not been delivered, the wheelchairs, the crutches, the children’s books, and other things that are not delivered,” Robinson said.
“Some food is getting in. ... A driver was being rejected for the second time because of minor problems … It is utterly devastating to see the sheer volume of vital materials sitting: oxygen cylinders, generators, wheelchairs, crutches. It's unbelievable.”
Clark said they visited Rafah to check the real situation on the ground.
“It’s absolutely shocking to us. And then to see full trucks being turned away. … A significant proportion of manifested trucks are turned away with vital supplies.” She declared, "This has to stop.”
‘People are starving’
The former officials issued a joint appeal for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted access to Gaza.
“There has to be a ceasefire, and there has to be an opening of all of the access ... The people are starving, children are starving and dying of malnutrition. We are seeing an unfolding famine and an unfolding genocide, and it is not acceptable,” Robinson said.
Israel has continued to impose a systematic starvation policy on approximately 2.4 million Palestinians in Gaza by sealing off all crossings to aid shipments, which have been stranded at the border since March 2. The blockade has pushed the enclave into famine.
Gaza requires around 600 aid trucks and 50 fuel trucks daily to meet the minimum humanitarian needs of its population.
“Today we express our shock and outrage at Israel’s deliberate obstruction of the entry of life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza, causing mass starvation to spread,” Robinson and Clark said in a joint statement.
“What we saw and heard underlines our personal conviction that there is not only an unfolding, human-caused famine in Gaza. There is an unfolding genocide.
“We saw evidence of food and medical aid denied entry, and heard witness accounts of the killing of Palestinian civilians, including children, while trying to access aid inside Gaza. The deliberate destruction of health facilities in Gaza means children facing acute malnutrition cannot be treated effectively. At least 36 children starved to death just in the month of July.
They called on Israel to immediately reopen Gaza’s crossings to allow access to humanitarian aid.
“No shelter materials have entered Gaza since March this year, and we saw huge numbers of tents ready for delivery but blocked by the Israeli authorities. This leaves families already displaced multiple times without protection. Ninety-six percent of households face water insecurity.”
The Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing over 61,700 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.