The humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens each day with millions displaced, thousands killed and tens of thousands injured and in need of urgent aid. Instead of just simply demanding a halt in hostilities, we must focus our attention on practical solutions to alleviate the suffering (“Visual analysis: Gaza’s last refuge becomes Israel’s next target”, FT.com, February 8).
Aid continues to be stockpiled in vast depots within Egypt. Aid has been sent from all over the world. Indeed, donors within Saudi Arabia have contributed more than $165mn specifically to the cause, but much of the aid available from donations remains under-deployed.
The blockages in supplying aid can be traced back, in part, to the slow pace of the security checks being carried out at the border. A severe lack of the machinery necessary to process the checks drastically hinders the volume of vehicles able to carry aid into Gaza.
It is also common for drivers to be required to drive a 100km round trip to be checked, before the journey to deliver supplies across the border can begin.
These punitive measures disrupt the crucial work of aid agencies like KSrelief and our delivery partners, such as the UN and the World Food Programme.
Air and sea routes offer some alternatives but currently the risks associated with delivering aid by plane or ship make this perilous. Land-based caravans of aid trucks are currently the quickest and safest way to get help through to the many that are suffering.
KSrelief stands ready — should our offer be accepted — to provide access to the equipment used to carry out security checks on aid vehicles; X-ray machines being the primary example. With this vital equipment in place, the pace at which the checks are carried out can be significantly improved. Indeed, KSrelief and its partners could offer assistance in upgrading the existing security infrastructure so vehicles can be processed more rapidly.
Ensuring humanitarian aid gets to the people of Gaza is only one part of
a tragic situation. Far better, would be for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, and then for significant numbers of humanitarian aid workers and medics to be allowed into Gaza, in order to save as many lives as possible.
His Excellency Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah
Supervisor General, King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre,
Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
