Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah affirmed Sunday that failure to meet the desperate needs of Gaza’s innocent civilians today would be a fundamental failure in humanity and a total failure of the human spirit.
The Queen made the remarks during a meeting with the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl at the UN agency office in Amman.
The meeting comes as violence in the Gaza Strip seriously worsens the plight of the 1.8 million people trapped in the coastal enclave.
Queen Rania noted that Gaza was suffering the third round of conflict in less than six years. "We need international support and international pressure to stop the extraordinary suffering that is growing by the hour," the Queen said. She further stressed the need for the donor community to respond immediately to the UNRWA emergency appeal.
Gaza, she affirmed, is a protracted humanitarian disaster; its people have been trapped in a vicious cycle of bloodshed and blockade for too long.
"Failure to meet the desperate needs of Gaza’s innocent civilians today would be a fundamental failure in our humanity and a total failure of our human spirit," the queen told the UN officials in Amman.
Queen Rania and the Commissioner-General discussed ways to further strengthen the close cooperation between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and UNRWA in addressing the needs of Palestinians in Gaza.
At the meeting, the UNRWA Commissioner expressed the Agency's gratitude for Jordan's continued support in facilitating the flow of humanitarian supplies through the Jordanian Hashemite Charity Organization, including an airlift of supplies for Gaza from the International Humanitarian City, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. To date, he added, the Hashemite Charity has facilitated the passage of over 62 aid convoys to Gaza.
"The situation in Gaza has been extreme for so many years, to the point of becoming completely unsustainable," said the Commissioner-General. "This conflict has been a terrible added blow. It is taking a staggering toll on Gaza's civilians, and will leave a lasting mark for years to come - particularly on children.
He added that during the humanitarian ceasefire declared on 26 July, there were heartbreaking scenes when scores of civilian remains were recovered from underneath destroyed homes and buildings." The top UNRWA official affirmed that the present round of Israeli military operations and ground offensive, air-strikes and rocket fire, have left hundreds dead and thousands injured. "Over 170,000 people have sought shelter in UNRWA schools, facing uncertainty, anguish and risks to their lives," Krahenbuhl said, while noting that UNRWA premises have been damaged in large numbers and hit directly by shelling on four separate occasions, in Maghazi Camp, in Jabalia and in Beit Hanoun, causing death and injury among civilians who sought protection and shelter in those very premises.
Meanwhile, Her Majesty said that the attacks on helpless civilians on UNRWA premises and other humanitarian spaces in Gaza "demonstrate the blatant disregard for human life in this conflict. "What more proof does the world need that there is no safe place in Gaza? No safe place for tens of thousands of desperate and defenseless civilians seeking refuge from the violence, wondered the Queen.
When this latest conflict broke out in Gaza, UNRWA put in place an emergency response on 7 July. It appealed for $115 million in order to respond to the consequences of the crisis, including the immediate needs of displaced Palestinians and to address the initial recovery efforts once the hostilities will have come to an end.
Source: BNA