• 'Everywhere in Gaza there is destruction, and there was a constant danger of airstrikes, and explosions, it is not a safe place for anybody,' says head of emergency communications at UN agency

ROMA 

The head of emergency communications at the World Food Program (WFP), who saw the devastation and destruction in Gaza, said people in the enclave are facing serious hunger and noone has a place to live.

Anadolu spoke to Jonathan Dumont, who visited Gaza last month. In its relentless bombardment since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, Israel has killed more than 47,000 people in Gaza and left the enclave in ruins.

Attacks continued until a three-phase ceasefire took effect on Jan. 19.

"It was a particularly difficult moment. After 15 months of war, everyone is hungry and homeless," Dumont said. "Desperation was increasing. People were afraid that food would run out. We were not able to get enough food in because the security situation was getting also very difficult."

"People were really hoping that the ceasefire would come into effect. That was what people were really counting on because things just could not continue as they were. People just had no place to live, had no food to eat. They were just desperate," he said.

Dumont emphasized that what the people in Gaza need the most is food.

Situation for aid workers 'very difficult'

Asked whether aid workers in Gaza were also targeted by the Israeli military and whether he had experienced anything like this, Dumont said: "The situation for aid workers is also very dangerous. It is an active military zone."

"There is bombing from air, land and sea all the time. There is a lot of destruction. There is also unexploded ordnance everywhere. It is a very dangerous environment to work in," he said.

"Aid workers need to be protected. There are no excuses. We had a lot of deaths there in Gaza as we have in other places like Sudan."

Tents, destruction, danger of airstrikes

"Everywhere in Gaza there is destruction, and there was a constant danger of airstrikes, and explosions, it is not a safe place for anybody," the official said.

"The north where Gaza City is, which was a large city, is largely destroyed."

Talking about displacement, Dumont said: "A lot of the people who have been moved several times over the past 15 months are living in the south but they are living in tents which is really dangerous especially in the winter.

"There is no heat .. tents blow away, and there is no food, so the situation is really insecure. People at least until the ceasefire had no way of knowing where they could get food or shelf."

'They want a ceasefire that will hold'

He said Gazans seek a permanent ceasefire such that they could rebuild all that has been lost.

"What Gazans really want and they came to me and told me that they want peace and they want a ceasefire that will hold. Only if it holds, people will begin to rebuild, I saw a lot of people trying to clean up after destruction while airstrikes were going on."

"So, there is this need to rebuild. People are desperate to rebuild," he said, adding he saw graffiti on demolished walls that "we will rebuild."

Aid after ceasefire

The UN staffer said the humanitarian organization sent 600 trucks of aid supplies on the first day of the truce, and 900 the day after.

"We are hopeful that this will continue. It will be able to scale up bringing more and more food because the needs are definitely great,” he said, adding that he may visit the enclave in the coming weeks to monitor the situation.

*Writing by Fatma Zehra Solmaz