Countries urge Israel to open Gaza aid routes as winter sets in

A coalition led by the UK, Qatar and Jordan has urged Israel’s incoming government to allow rapid, unhindered humanitarian access throughout Gaza via all available crossings and land routes.

The appeal was delivered at the United Nations in New York on 12 November by the UK’s UN ambassador, Sarah MacIntosh, on behalf of more than 50 countries and organisations. It also called for the Egyptian and Jordanian aid corridors to operate fully and predictably, and for Israel to approve additional supplies, including items it considers to have both civilian and military uses.

The following day, the Humanitarian Country Team for the occupied Palestinian territory said Israeli policies were obstructing the entry of critical supplies. It said more than 150,000 tents bought by aid partners and UN member states were outside Gaza and ready for dispatch, while funding for the winter response had fallen far short of what was needed.

Before the joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had denied that Israel was responsible for conditions in Gaza’s flooded tent camps. He blamed Hamas, saying it refused to disarm and seized aid for military use. The Associated Press reported that he provided no evidence for the aid seizure claim.

The coalition also asked Israel to restore the medical referral route to hospitals in East Jerusalem and the West Bank for patients who cannot be adequately treated in Gaza. The World Health Organization had made the same request in September, when it said only 19 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals were even partially functioning.

The statement called for the protection of health and aid workers, transparent criminal investigations into attacks on them, and access to Gaza for journalists and senior international delegations.

Participating countries pledged support for winter preparations and for efforts to restore essential health services with the Palestinian Authority and other partners. The statement did not specify amounts or delivery dates.