We at Musalaha lament the devastation and unfolding tragedies in Gaza and Sourthern Israel. We stand firmly against the embrace, use and justification of violence against civilian populations in the name of justice, vengeance and liberation. We are distressed and overwhelmed, never having seen this scale of inhumanity, anguish, rage and hatred before.

As the number of people killed continues to rise daily, we lament for all those who have lost loved ones and pray for comfort over their bereaved families. We mourn all the lives of civilians killed and the ones fleeing for their lives; we mourn for all homes destroyed and futures interrupted. We pray for the medical teams and journalists facing chaos and adversity, healing for the injured, and for the released of all civilian (Israeli and Foreign National) hostages in Gaza.

We lament thesse recent events as part of the larger context we have been writing and warning about for years. We grieve the normalised systemic policies and practices that have been oppressing and denying Palestinians their basic human rights and freedoms. We call for the immediate lift of the indiscriminate siege of Gaza where over 2 million people are currently enduring collective punishment, cut off from water, food, fuel, medicine, and electricity. We call for the deployment of humanitarian aid and vital resources to be fully restored.

We lament people who, in the name of justice, have allowed rage to perpetuate the cycle of dehumanisation and excuse bloodshed; as seen with Hamas’ attacks and the Israeli army’s response. We lament the rhetoric fuelling exclusive and racist narratives that can only lead to further vengeance and violence. We lament the damaging and barren role internaitonal state actors have played, sabotaging the possibilities of a just reality.

Musalaha purposefully exists outside this ongoing cycle of violence, believing in challenging systemic violence as well as vengeful violence reacting to it. As we imagine a better world, we call our friends to practice empathy, express comfort and support our vision of a just peace. We invite both Palestinians and Israelis to see the dignity and humanity of the other by non-violenting co-resisting together for a better future.

Lynn Hastings Photo by UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Today could have been a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, born from the atrocities of two world wars. Instead, human rights are assaulted in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The violations perpetrated on both populations will bring neither peace nor security to either of these nations.

In Israel, the killings, sexual violence and kidnappings by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups on 7 October traumatized an entire nation. Elderly, disabled, and children have not been spared. Non-state armed actors have obligations under international law, too. Perpetrators must be held accountable. All hostages should be released unconditionally but in the interim, access should be granted so their conditions can be verified.

In Gaza, the response from Israel has been disproportionate. The air strikes against civilians and civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, and UN facilities and the repeated displacement of the civilian population cannot be justified. Nor can the siege, depriving the entire Gaza population of food, water, health care and hygiene. We are now seeing reports of men and boys, from the age of 15 and older, rounded up in Gaza, stripped to their undergarments, blindfold, and taken somewhere unknown. Access to all detainees and prisoners should be granted to verify their conditions.

This crisis is not about the number of trucks going into Gaza. Israel has the obligation as the occupying power to ensure that sufficient hygiene and public health standards as well as the provision of food and medical care are available to the population under occupation. Israel must allow the humanitarian community to deliver aid safely inside and throughout Gaza.

This crisis is also not about safe zones. A unilateral declaration by an occupying power that patches of land where there is no infrastructure, food, water, health care, or hygiene are “safe zones” does not mean they are safe. This is especially true when there is no guarantee of freedom of movement nor for the humanitarian community to deliver wherever there is need.

A ceasefire – the terms of which must be consulted with humanitarians and human rights defenders – is needed.

In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, unprecedented levels of Israeli state and settler violence against Palestinians, their displacement, movement restrictions, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment, have been reported in 2023 and compound the already discriminatory and coercive environment. 265 of the 464 Palestinians killed in the West Bank in 2023 were killed since 7 October; at least three killed were disabled. And at least 1,000 people have been forcibly displaced from their land citing settler violence and the inability to access their land.

Civil society organizations in Palestine and Israel who fight daily to protect human rights are needed now more than ever. Instead, they are under attack. They must be protected by all of us.

In 2023, I should not have to issue such a statement. It is as if we have learned nothing in the past 75 years.

Today marks two months to the day since the start of the Gazan tragedy. That day, October the 7th, with the terrible events that happened to the people of Israel living near Gaza, and that led to the terrible events that continue to this day.

And the message that we have been giving – we here being the humanitarian community, and I represent the humanitarian community writ large, not just the United Nations – is that we do not have a humanitarian operation in southern Gaza that can be called by that name anymore. That the pace of the military assault in southern Gaza is a repeat of the assault in northern Gaza. That it has made no place safe for civilians in southern Gaza, which had been a cornerstone of the humanitarian plan to protect civilians and thus to provide aid to them. But without places of safety, that plan is in tatters.

And so what we have at the moment in Gaza – northern Gaza, even more difficult – but in Gaza, where we have trucks still crossing daily through the Rafah crossing, is at best humanitarian opportunism, to try to reach through some roads which are still accessible, which haven’t been mined or destroyed, to some people who can be found, where some food or some water or some other supply can be given. But it’s a program of opportunism. Its erratic, it’s undependable, and frankly, it’s not sustainable.

It’s as a result of this declaration and judgment by the humanitarian community, the global humanitarian community, that the Secretary-General of the United Nations [António Guterres], as you know, wrote yesterday to the President of the Security Council, invoking for the first time ever in his tenure as Secretary-General, Article 99 of the [UN] Charter, which speaks of the threat to international peace and security of a specific event, as raised by and in the judgment of the Secretary-General.

Now, I don’t want to end these opening remarks without saying one more important thing, and that is this: That even while we have said, enough, done, finish, stop the fighting, let’s have that immediate ceasefire, that doesn’t mean to say that humanitarians are themselves running for cover.

We’re still negotiating, and with some promising signs at the moment, access through Kerem Shalom – that other crossing, as you know, to the [east] of Rafah, from Israel into Gaza – which has been such a feature of discussion these many weeks. And there are some promising signs now that that may be able to open soon.

And we’re still at it. We are still in Gaza. [The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East] UNRWA is still in Gaza. My Office [for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] is still there. We are still unloading trucks in the Rafah crossing.

But what we don’t have is any sense of clarity of planning, is any sense of what’s going to happen tomorrow.

And to be specific, none of us can see where this will end. None of us can see where the people crammed into that southern pocket of Gaza will go, those 2 million people, what do they think their futures are.

I have just come from a meeting with my own staff around the world, buried in the tragedy of conflicts, and they have spoken to me this morning now about two things. One is that in Gaza, there is no exit for the people of Gaza. And the other is, in Gaza, as a result, hope for the future is, at its best, at a premium.

So our humanitarian program is no longer a functioning one – it is one of response to opportunity. Yet we are still trying to build a new access point. And the Secretary-General has clearly, evidently and quickly renewed his advocacy for what must be the only serious policy response to this globally, which is: Silence the guns.

Thank you.

Q: Mr. Griffiths, a question regarding the promising signs on the possible opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing – what are these promising signs? Thank you.

Under-Secretary-General Griffiths: Thank you very much indeed, very specific – we’ve been arguing in favor, obviously, for the opening of Kerem Shalom for months, I mean, not for months, for weeks. These negotiations have been taking place in a committee called the COGAT [Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories] committee, which meets daily and nightly, where the Israeli Government is represented, as is the US by the way, as well as the Egyptians and the United Nations, my own office is present. And in that milieu, in that environment, we have been arguing for the opening of Kerem Shalom – not just as an opening to allow trucks to go through there to then go through Rafah and then up into Gaza, but to go straight through Kerem Shalom up into the northern parts of Gaza, or where the need is greatest.

Now, of late, in these most recent days in those discussions, there have been some signs that the Member States, related to that, Egypt and Israel obviously are related to that, have become much more open to the idea of opening Kerem Shalom, probably not in one go, but certainly gradually.

Secondly, I have a representative, as we speak, in Jordan, already lining up the potential deliveries of aid by land from Jordan, which could come straight through from Jordan over the Allenby bridge, straight to Kerem Shalom – that’s one entry point to Kerem Shalom. If we get that, well, it’ll be the first miracle we’ve seen for some weeks, but it will be a huge boost to the logistical process and logistical base of a humanitarian operation. It doesn’t mean to say that it will solve the security problems that of course I’ve spoken about, but it would change the nature of humanitarian access.

Q: Swiss news agency – if that doesn’t happen and if the situation goes on like it is today, how long do you think there will be still a possibility to go on with at least that humanitarian opportunism? And how long will Palestinian population bear it?

Under-Secretary-General Griffiths: I think the second part of your question is the killer: How long would the Palestinian people of Gaza bear this? Because they’re being pushed further and further south. They tell everyone every day, we tell everyone every day, there’s no place of safety. There’s no safe zones. People aren’t even talking about safe zones anymore. So they’re being pushed south. We know Israel has a very firm policy of no entry for the people of Gaza into Israel for reasons I think we can all understand. But that pressure, that pressure will grow exponentially over these days. The humanitarian activities, as you say, humanitarian opportunism – it can’t be a humanitarian program, that will be too ample a description of it – that will continue so long as there are people in Gaza there and trucks that can cross into Rafah. That will not stop.

The people of Gaza should know, do know, that the aid agencies that they have relied on, God help us, these many decades, will not desert them at this time. But the prospects for safety for those million or more people forced into that southern pocket – your guess is surely as good as mine – that we ain’t seen the end of this movie. We’ll see more of that.

And we will see more pressure, and we haven’t even begun to talk about the impact of the increase in violence in the West Bank. The worry about violence in Lebanon, the anxieties in Jordan of an outflow into Jordan. I was in Amman last week with Their Majesties convening a very practical operational meeting about what needs to be done to help the people of Gaza where they are. What’s happening in Gaza is forcing the people of Gaza to choose where to be and to choose on the basis of violence – and pressure.

Q: France24 – thank you for being with us. A question related to security. We’ve seen recently that civilians, WHO [World Health Organization] or humanitarians, journalists, are openly targeted by Israeli forces. How will you be sure that the convoys with humanitarian aid will not be targeted? What will be the evidence that will be given by the Israeli forces? Thank you.

Under-Secretary-General Griffiths: First of all, it is very good question because plans for deliveries, convoys, whatever, although a convoy sounds a bit surreal in the context of the current situation in southern Gaza, are discussed every day or every night in this committee that I’ve spoken of, the COGAT committee. But relying on the safety of those convoys is something that is also at a premium, also in doubt. Because there has been so much evidence of attacks, for example, on people moving, they thought safely from the north, remember from hospitals in the north, south, and yet being bombed on their way south.

And that’s why this notion, this statement, that there is no place of safety in Gaza relates also to humanitarian operations, which means that if you’re planning a humanitarian delivery in Gaza today, you must, you must plan for the likelihood that it will be interrupted, that it may be attacked, that it may be looted, that it may be stopped, it may be diverted, that it may not succeed. You cannot, as we do in most other places around the world, assume that a plan that has been agreed between parties is one that will go through without incident.

And I think that uncertainty about the likelihood of aid reaching people in need is yet another aspect of the absence of hope for the people of Gaza because they don’t know when their next aid will come from and where from. What they do know is that the destruction of the health system, and I think Dr. Tedros [Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General,] today has made an announcement of the demise of yet another hospital of the few remaining hospitals that work, that the erosion, that elimination, the destruction of the health system has meant that disease, hunger, deprivation, challenges bombing as a cause of death and wounding of the people of Gaza.

There are two horsemen of the apocalypse in Gaza today – conflict, of course, but also disease. And that will only get worse, as we are unable to sustain any supplies to hospitals, any safe water desalination and so on and so forth. So the vectors, the signs, the pointers are going in the wrong direction, all of them.

Q: Actually, today, we saw photos and videos showing the arrest of dozens of Palestinians in northern Gaza, including a journalist called [inaudible], he is one of my friends. I saw him in one of the videos among the detainees. Do you have any ability to know the fate of those people or to deliver aid or help to them? And does Israel cooperate with you regarding providing information about the detainees since the 7th of October? And we know the number of those detainees are more than 2,700 people. At the same time, we hear the United Nations repeatedly talking about Israeli detainees detained in Gaza. How do you classify Palestinians detained by Israel since October the 7th? And why don’t you talk about them at the same level as the Israeli detainees? Thank you.

Under-Secretary-General Griffiths: I am not a lawyer, so I am not somebody getting into defining what is the name for one person and the name for another. For a humanitarian, people who are in need are all civilians in need unless they are combatants, whether they are detained or not. The release of hostages and also of Palestinian prisoners, which happened in that seven-day pause last week, showed us very clearly in every single take of their reuniting with their family, reminded us what humanity is. A seven-day pause also allowed us to do some repair of systems, restocking of plants, preparation and aid.

We do not distinguish, as humanitarian agencies, in terms of need between those detained by either side. We want hostages released. We have said it every time, we say that publicly. We decry, that’s a painfully weak word, we have deplored the taking of those hostages back on October the 7th. We deplore the detention of civilians, we deplore the killing of civilians, more than either, and we deplore the lack of our ability to function effectively for the benefit of those civilians, but we do not discriminate according to nationality.

Q: Thanks very much. It’s a couple, I hope you don’t mind. I mean, you were talking about the situation in Gaza and now obviously your focus is on the short term, but I am just wondering, when you look at what’s happening, if you think Gaza can ever be livable in the foreseeable future, given the destruction? And my other question is really about your trust with Israel. Your relationship of trust, because the UN Resident [and Humanitarian] Coordinator [Lynn Hastings], you know, her visa is not going to be renewed. There has been quite a lot of, what here in Geneva, people would say is misinformation, even disinformation, about the role of humanitarian agencies, including the UN. I mean, what is your feeling? How do you approach that? Must be quite awkward.

Under-Secretary-General Griffiths: It is occasionally awkward, but I visited Israel, now about 10 days ago, had meetings with Israeli officials, and they were very constructive. They introduced me, by the way, to some of the families of the hostages, which was very important for me, to be able to speak to them and hear their direct experience. The Israeli contingent, which is in that negotiating committee that I mentioned earlier, COGAT, negotiates constructively, every day, is not absent, is always present, as is my office, of course, as are the Egyptian representatives, as well as the US representatives. So we continue to negotiate as we do everywhere in the world – on the basis of humanitarian principles and with humanitarian aspirations. Now, I have publicly said that it is wrong to decry the reputation of my colleague, the Humanitarian Coordinator Lynn Hastings, for whom I have a great respect, and who leads our team in the Occupied [Palestinian Territory] and has done so for some time. Not always an easy job, always demanding, always requiring neutrality. And Lynn is one of those who has all those values in a very good place. So it is always distressing for me, as it has been in a very different way for the Secretary-General, to be criticized for what we believe is doing our job. But we will continue to do so.

And although there may be awkward moments, there are also moments of achievement and that is why I was glad to say earlier on that there are those promising signs that I mentioned, which are promising signs in negotiations with the Israeli authorities over the opening of Kerem Shalom. Let us not lose our faith in the possibilities of humanity.

Thank you.

Dear Mr. President,

I am writing under Article 99 of the United Nations Charter to bring to the attention of the Security Council a matter which, in my opinion, may aggravate existing threats to the maintenance of international peace and security.

More than eight weeks of hostilities in Gaza and Israel have created appalling human suffering, physical destruction and collective trauma across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

More than 1,200 people were brutally killed, including 33 children, and thousands were injured in the abhorrent acts of terror by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups on 7 October 2023, which I have repeatedly condemned.

Some 250 people were abducted, including 34 children, more than 130 of whom are still captive. They must be immediately and unconditionally released. Accounts of sexual violence during the attacks are appalling.

Civilians throughout Gaza face grave danger. Since the start of lsrael’s military operation, more than 15,000 people have reportedly been killed, over 40 per cent of whom were children. Thousands of others have been injured. More than half of all homes have been destroyed. Some 80 per cent of the population of 2.2 million has been forcibly displaced, into increasingly smaller areas. More than 1.1 million people have sought refuge in UNRWA facilities across Gaza, creating overcrowded, undignified, and unhygienic conditions. Others have nowhere to shelter and find themselves on the street. Explosive remnants of war are rendering areas uninhabitable. There is no effective protection of civilians.

The health care system in Gaza is collapsing. Hospitals have turned into battlegrounds. Only 14 hospitals out of 36 facilities are even partially functional. The two major hospitals in south Gaza are operating at three times their bed capacity and are running out of basic supplies and fuel. They are also sheltering thousands of displaced persons. Under these circumstances, more people will die untreated in the coming days and weeks.

Nowhere is safe in Gaza.

Amid constant bombardment by the Israel Defense Forces, and without shelter or the essentials to survive, I expect public order to completely break down soon due to the desperate conditions, rendering even limited humanitarian assistance impossible. An even worse situation could unfold, including epidemic diseases and increased pressure for mass displacement into neighbouring countries.

In Resolution 2712 (2023), the Security Council “calls for the scaling up of the provision of such supplies to meet the humanitarian needs of the civilian population, especially children.”

The current conditions are making it impossible for meaningful humanitarian operations to be conducted. We are, nevertheless, preparing options for monitoring the implementation of the resolution, even if we recognize that in the present circumstances, that is untenable.

While delivery of supplies through Rafah continues, quantities are insufficient and have dropped since the pause came to an end. We are simply unable to reach those in need inside Gaza. The capacity of the United Nations and its humanitarian partners has been decimated by supply shortages, lack of fuel, interrupted communications, and growing insecurity. Humanitarian personnel have joined the vast majority of Gazan civilians in evacuating to south Gaza ahead of advancing military operations. At least 130 UNRWA colleagues have been killed, many with their families.

We are facing a severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system. The situation is fast deteriorating into a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for Palestinians as a whole and for peace and security in the region. Such an outcome must be avoided at all cost.

The international community has a responsibility to use all its influence to prevent further escalation and end this crisis. I urge the members of the Security Council to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe. I reiterate my appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared. This is urgent. The civilian population must be spared from greater harm. With a humanitarian ceasefire, the means of survival can be restored, and humanitarian assistance can be delivered in a safe and timely manner across the Gaza Strip.

Please accept, Mr. President, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Antonio Guterres

UNA-UK calls on the UK and its allies to use all tools available to halt the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza.

More than two weeks of devastating violence has resulted in civilian casualties of an unconscionable scale – we echo the message from the UN Secretary-General: nothing can justify the atrocities carried out by Hamas on 7 October, and nothing can justify Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinian civilians.

We urge the UK and its allies to recognise the catastrophe unfolding and implore them to pursue every route available to secure an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. As the dire situation worsens, we demand member states heed the call from the UN Secretary-General and implore all parties to uphold and respect international humanitarian law, to take care to spare civilians when conducting military operations, and to respect and protect hospitals and the inviolability of UN facilities.

UNA-UK unequivocally condemns the heinous attack carried out by Hamas in Southern Israel in which 1,400 Israelis were killed and over 200 people taken hostage, atrocities that constitute a war crime. It cannot be disputed that Israel has a right to defend itself, nevertheless war must be fought according to international humanitarian law. We are equally unequivocal therefore, that these horrific acts cannot justify Israel’s disproportionate and indiscriminate response against Palestinians which, according to UN experts, is resulting in crimes against humanity. More than 6,500 civilians in Gaza have been killed since Israel launched its response.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has a mandate to investigate any and all alleged atrocities committed by different parties, starting with the instigating atrocities of Hamas. We urge the UK to make this clear in their public statements, and call on them to reaffirm the role and jurisdiction of the ICC Prosecutor to pursue justice and accountability for these crimes.

Today, the international community’s priority must be the preservation of human life above all else. According to the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) – currently the largest humanitarian provider in Gaza – “an unprecedented catastrophe is unfolding before our eyes”.

Israel’s aerial bombardments of the Gaza Strip have razed large areas to the ground and have resulted in 1.4 million Gazans being internally displaced. In tandem Israel has tightened the 16 year siege to the enclave by cutting off access to water, electricity, medicine, fuel and other basic needs. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights highlighted that the imposition of sieges that endanger civilian lives are prohibited under international humanitarian law (IHL), and UN experts have raised serious concerns that forcible population transfers are a violation of IHL and criminal law.

While UNA-UK welcomes the recent breakthroughs that have allowed for aid convoys to pass through the Rafah crossing to deliver essential food, water and medicine, this delivery is equivalent to roughly four percent of the daily average that entered Gaza prior to hostilities. It is clear this does not meet the scale of humanitarian needs that are worsening by the day. Critically, these convoys have not brought in fuel to Gaza and it has been reported that UNRWA is expected to imminently exhaust its remaining fuel reserves – without which aid operations, clean drinking water and hospitals will be shut off.

The UK and its allies must leverage their influence to preserve humanity, respond to the humanitarian crisis unfolding and ensure that all parties comply with the laws of war. We were dismayed by the United States’ decision last week to veto a UN Security Council resolution that would have condemned Hamas, enabled urgently needed action to ensure vital humanitarian aid and essential services reach people, issued a call for all parties to abide by international humanitarian law, and demanded the release of hostages. While the UK chose to abstain, we commend Brazil’s efforts in leading on this text that secured 12 Council members votes in favour.

Inevitably that decision has led to further back and forth in the Security Council, while the task of passing a resolution has moved over to the UN General Assembly. The tenth Emergency Special Session on the “Question of Palestine” will convene on Thursday 26 October, following a request to the President of the General Assembly from the Chairs of the Arab Group and the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation.

Civilians in Gaza cannot wait. An immediate ceasefire must urgently be secured and all parties must unconditionally:

1. Facilitate the delivery of lifesaving assistance, including food, medical supplies, fuel, and the resumption of electricity and internet to Gaza, in addition to safe passage of humanitarian and medical staff
2. Free all civilian hostages, especially children and those with underlying health conditions
3. Allow humanitarian convoys to reach UN facilities, schools, hospitals, and health facilities in northern Gaza and commit to protecting them along with the civilians and staff inside them at all times
4. Rescind orders by the Government of Israel for civilians to depart northern Gaza
5. Allow patients in critical condition to be medically evacuated for urgent care

All states have a responsibility to protect civilians. UNA-UK believes the UK has a special responsibility – as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, former colonial power in the region, and the world’s second-largest arms exporter – including at least half a billion in export licences to Israel over the past decade. It is thought that around 15% of the value of each of Israel’s F-35 combat aircraft is produced in the UK. The aircraft are being heavily used in Israel’s bombing campaign on Gaza.

UNA-UK is deeply concerned that earlier statements, from both the UK government and members of the opposition, of unconditional support for Israel have provided a carte blanche for the disproportionate devastation and destruction of Gaza. Israel’s own experience of counterterrorism campaigns of recent decades tells us that such retaliation, far from making Israel safer, will only perpetuate a cycle which will lead to the death of more Israelis, as well as Palestinians, and ultimately only benefits the arms industry.

Last year UNA-UK commended the UK for joining 82 states in endorsing a political declaration committing to action to avoid civilian harm from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas – the leading cause of civilian casualties in armed conflict. Endorsing states have committed to take action by making changes to their national policy and practice and promoting stronger standards. The UK should live up to this declaration by calling for an immediate cessation of bombing in what is one of the most heavily populated territories on earth. A failure to do so suggests the absence of a joined up and consistent foreign policy. It diminishes the project to protect civilians by failing to put a well-established principle into practice. Palestine has signed the declaration but Israel has not.

This ongoing cycle of violence need not be inevitable, and we urge the UK and its allies to pursue diplomatic routes to stem the tide of violence and recognise that escalating militarism risks intensifying unacceptable human suffering and is a recipe for catastrophic wider conflict in the region.

We urge the UK to immediately:

• Take action to save lives and secure a humanitarian ceasefire
• Unequivocally call for all parties to abide by international humanitarian and human rights law
• Work across regional groups in the General Assembly for action focused statements to prevent further atrocities
• Vocally champion COI and ICC investigations, calling for unhindered access for investigators in all instances
• Answer the appeals for funding from UNRWA
• Suspend arms export licences to Israel relevant to current hostilities

This statement reflects the position of UNA-UK staff.

Today, we mark World Humanitarian Day, reaffirming our commitment to the protection, well-being, and dignity of all those affected by crises. The day also pays tribute to humanitarian workers, who deliver assistance in times of conflict or natural disasters.

About 2.1 million people across the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) need humanitarian assistance, the same number as last year but with unprecedented and growing vulnerabilities in the West Bank. Thousands are involved in the effort to try and help them; NGOs might be the most obvious, but they work in partnership with volunteers, municipal workers who repair pipelines in the middle of floods or conflict, doctors, and nurses – to name only a few who act as “first responders.”

In the OPT, #NoMatterWhat means that amid Israel’s occupation, movement restrictions, political divisions, recurrent conflict, and even efforts to denigrate their work, humanitarians are working to assist 1.6 million of the most vulnerable Palestinians. Their commitment to helping others in times of crisis is unwavering. As they provide trauma care, deliver food, ensure access to clean water, shelter, education, health, nutrition, and protection, they often put their own lives at risk.

During operations and escalations, colleagues work to ensure consistent provision of safe drinking water, while others extinguish fires or clear debris, paving the way for rescue units to enter buildings on the verge of collapse. Medical teams venture into dangerous areas amid gunfire and bombing to treat the injured; in the first seven months of 2023, 77 health care workers were injured, and 30 ambulances damaged.

Experts diligently remove unexploded ordinance to avoid further loss of life.

In high-risk areas of the West Bank, partners accompany farmers and herders, providing safety, thereby allowing them to sustain their livelihoods and food security.

In inclement weather, especially during heavy rains, dedicated teams maintain drainage and electricity systems while most people seek shelter indoors.

Despite these obstacles, they and we are committed, no matter what, to helping people in need. Today and every day, let’s remember not to take these heroes for granted.

“These are stories that need to be told. You need to look at the human impact on families whose lives were changed for ever” – Sarah Agha. “I think the key to understanding where we are today is to hear the stories of that time from both sides” – Rob Rinder

Colin Briant of Musalaha shares the following report.

On 14 and 21 March 2023, BBC 2 broadcast two television programmes co-presented by Rob Rinder and Sarah Agha in the series “The Holy Land and Us – Our Untold Stories”  about the foundation of the State of Israel and the way these events shaped the narratives of their British families, one Israeli, the other Palestinian.

Using the approach seen in “Who do you think you are?” these two grandchildren trace their families’ history back to 1948 and before, to reveal personal stories hitherto unknown to them.

As the experiences of another four families are explored, characteristic Palestinian and Jewish narratives emerge.

“……the promise of a homeland of safety a quarter of a century before my family are murdered in the holocaust …..”
“Israel offered sanctuary for Jews from across the world, but it undoubtedly came at a price.”
“For the Palestinians there was nothing to celebrate. What Palestinian families like mine lost in 1948 were their homes, along with a sense of place and belonging. More than 700,000 Palestinian refugees were created by the events between1947 and 1949. …. Palestinians call this period The Nakba – Arabic for the catastrophe.”

In the final scene the participants wistfully express hope for the future, but they show no awareness of approaches such as Musalaha’s.

It seemed to me, Colin writes, that they are a very good way to help us understand the current background Musalaha is working in.

The first five minutes of Episode 1 form an overall introduction, well worth looking at in itself. It contains hints of the pain and the hope the two main participants will share with viewers.

These programmes are even-handed and sensitive as the two competing narratives emerge. At the very start they outline the role the British played, raising difficult questions for us today.

These two BBC episodes are available on iPlayer for the next twelve months.

References

About the series “The Holy Land and Us – Our Untold Stories”

Series 2 Episode 1 on BBC iPlayer (requires BBC  licence)

Series 2 Episode 2 on BBC iPlayer (requires BBC  licence)

Musalaha