PODCAST. War between Hamas and Israel: the countdown

While famine and lack of water are already killing people in Gaza, the United States is seeking a solution to the distribution of humanitarian aid, in a context of concern over the absence of a truce on the eve of Ramadan.

It is at the same time a factory of images for communication, a small relief for the inhabitants, and a painful admission of failure for the international community. Since the beginning of March, Jordan, France, the United States, among others, have communicated about the pallets of humanitarian aid dropped by plane near the beaches of Gaza.

The French are providing logistical assistance to this new humanitarian route. Lieutenant Colonel Rudy was in Amann to support the Jordanians. “Jordan manages what’s in the boxes, we take care of the container and the plane”, he explains. Lieutenant-Colonel Rudy specifies that “Jordan does not have enough planes compared to needs“.

Famine hits children hard

This aid does not meet the needs of Gazans. According to the UN, a countdown has begun. If nothing changes, the risk of famine in the north of the enclave is almost inevitable. We are also beginning to list the first victims of hunger. Unicef ​​spokesperson James Elder confirms the death of at least 10 children from dehydration and lack of food. He describes how a baby suffering from dehydration is treated in hospital: “We first try to infuse it, but we can’t because we can’t find any veins. So if there are still medical personnel, we will try to prick a vein in the head, but that too will not work“.

The Gaza Ministry of Health reports a toll that continues to rise. Despite the risk of famine in Gaza, Israelis are trying to tighten even more the bottleneck which slows down the entry of humanitarian trucks into the enclave. Some want to build new settlements in Gaza, almost 20 years after the Israeli withdrawal. Daniella Weiss leads this ultra-radical movement which is just waiting for a signal to colonize Gaza. She assures that “500 families are instantly ready, that’s more than 2000 people“.”They are ready now. If I call them there, tonight there will be seven settlements in Gaza“, she adds.

“Sometimes, the visas of senior NGO executives are not renewed (…), while expatriates from other sectors have had their visas extended. This means that the humanitarian sector is targeted”

Firas Arouri, coordinator of the Aïda association

at franceinfo

Gaza is not an isolated situation. When we speak with NGO leaders, we see that overall humanitarian action towards the Palestinians is hampered throughout the region.

Since the start of the war, Israel has no longer granted visas or renewed visas to foreign aid workers. Two thirds of them are now in difficulty in the occupied West Bank. Firas Arouri is the coordinator of Aïda, the association of international development agencies in Ramallah. He observes that sometimes these are “NGO country director or other senior management positions that have not been renewed“while visas”expatriates in other sectors are extensive“.”We see this measure as intrinsic to the widespread access restrictions for NGOs, whether in the West Bank or Gaza.“, says Firas Arouri.

After 5 months of war, the extreme humanitarian situation in Gaza no longer seems tenable. US President Joe Biden announced during his State of the Union address to Congress on Thursday, March 7, the construction of an additional mechanism for humanitarian distribution. The United States will therefore build a temporary port near Gaza to transport aid by boat from Cyprus.

The American president is also pushing for a truce agreement before the Ramadan period, which risks shifting tension to Jerusalem.

Ramadan countdown

Thibault Lefevre, permanent correspondent for Radio France in Jerusalem, went to take the temperature near the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. If there is no truce in the coming hours, we fear that this place will become flammable. “We are a few days away from Ramadan“, which will kick off on March 10 or 11, recalls Thibault Lefevre. He says he is leaving the “WAQF, the Jordanian administration of the mosque esplanade also called the Temple Mount for the Jews“.”And in fact they have only one request: that Muslims in the occupied West Bank can come and pray during this month of Ramadan“, notes Thibault Lefevre.

Access restrictions, imposed by the Israelis to the holy site, are a powerful fuel that can fuel tensions in the sector. This year, despite pressure from the far right, the Israeli government has not strengthened the restriction regime. According to Thibault Lefevre, the countdown to Ramadan has begun without any visibility. He thus describes a “rather calm atmosphere“, with the presence of “lots of Israeli police“.”It’s not easy to know what will happen: everything is being prepared like in previous years, as if October 7 had not happened.“, says Thibault Lefevre.

For the Americans, a truce before Ramadan would be the best remedy to the risk of violence, but the discussions seem blocked. The Hamas delegation left Cairo. The Israelis, who are still threatening to advance on Rafah, don’t even have the means to get things started, says Alona Fisher Kamm, charge d’affaires at the Israeli embassy in Paris. Asked on franceinfo on Tuesday March 5 about Hamas, she assures “that they still refuse to give us a list of names of the hostages“.”We don’t know how many are dead, how many are alive. On the Israeli side, we have confirmation of 32 dead hostages, but for the rest we have no news from them“, she regrets.

In this context, the main opponent of the Israeli Prime Minister, former Chief of Staff Benny Gantz toured the United States and Great Britain. The UN validated in an investigation the existence of rapes during the October 7 attacks. Three crew members also died in the Gulf of Aden, victims of a shooting on a merchant ship attributed to the Houthi rebels.

“We are in a situation that has no comparable precedent.”

Andrea de Domenico, head of office at the UN

at franceinfo

Andrea de Domenico, head of the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs in the Palestinian territories (Ocha), believes that the future American port will not solve the problem of delivering aid. Movements within the Gaza Strip remain complicated. “There are a whole series of measures that should be taken by the Israeli army and which have been discussed for months to facilitate humanitarian aid, but which have never materialized“, he regrets. Andrea de Domenico believes that we are currently “in a situation which has no comparable precedent“.

In this episode: Thibault Lefevre, Alice Froussard, Jérémy Lanche, Salhia Brakhlia.

Director: Etienne Monin, Lucas Finet and Laurine Benjebria.