What humanitarian aid items did Israel reject during the war in Gaza? – Global News (Trending Perfect)

But in the six months since the start of the war, Israeli authorities have also prevented or restricted access to a number of items, from life-saving medical supplies to toys and chocolate croissants.

“I think this is unprecedented,” Shaina Lu, spokeswoman for the Norwegian Refugee Council in the Palestinian Territories, said of the Israeli restrictions. ““It's something aid agencies have never had to deal with.”

Obstacles and delays, along with attacks on aid workers, continue to exist It costs the lives of PalestiniansAid groups say – accusations Israel denies.

Items prohibited from entering Gaza

The Washington Post contacted 25 relief organizations, United Nations agencies and donor countries about the types of aid they tried to deliver to Gaza. Food, water and blankets do not require approvals, but agencies submit requests for items they believe have a chance of being rejected, such as communications equipment and sanitation or shelter materials.

They said pre-dispatch approvals and border inspections were inconsistent, with some items being rejected in one case but approved in others. In some cases, organizations have been able to overturn the denial on appeal. Other requests remained in limbo. The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories Unit, the Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating aid inside Gaza, did not respond to requests for comment.

Below is a list of items that the United Nations and other relief agencies say have been denied entry into Gaza by Israeli authorities at least once since October 7:

• Narcotic drugs
• Animal feed
• Cardiac catheterization
• Chemical water quality test kits
• Chocolate croissant
• Crutches
• Field hospital boxes
• Bulletproof vests and helmets for aid workers
• Equipment for repairing water pipes
• Generators for hospitals
• Green tents and sleeping bags
• Maternity groups
• Medical thread in reproductive health groups
• Medical scissors in children's aid kits
• Microbiological water test kits
• Mobile water desalination units with solar energy system and generators
• Nail clippers in toiletries
• Obstetric clamps
• Oxygen concentrators
• Oxygen cylinders
• Power supply equipment
• Prefabricated shelters
• Satellite communications groups
• Scissors and scalpels in midwifery kits
• Sleeping bags with zippers
• Solar Panels
• Solar-powered lamps and flashlights
• Solar powered medical refrigerators
• Spare parts for pumps and generators
• Stone fruit
• Surgical instruments for doctors
• Faucet holder sets for water dispensing
• Tent poles
• Toys in wooden boxes
• Ultrasound equipment
• Fans
• Water bladder
• Water filters and purification tablets
• water pumps
• Wheelchairs, glucose meters, syringes and other medical equipment on a truck are rejected for a different item
• X-ray machines

Limited scanning machines and operating hours at border inspection sites are slowing aid deliveries, according to Jamie McGoldrick, the UN humanitarian coordinator in the occupied Palestinian territories.

He added that if one item is rejected during inspection, the entire truck will be returned. Earlier this year, children's insulin pens were denied entry, after a mixed goods truck was apparently turned away because of solar panels, McGoldrick said.

“You would think that five and a half months after a crisis of this kind, the systems in place would be more predictable and more stable. In fact, they're not. That's why we're struggling,” McGoldrick said.

The Office for Coordination of Government Activities in the Regions played its role UN agencies were accused of delays in delivering aid. Last month, in response to a video by UN Secretary-General António Guterres showing miles of trucks parked at the Rafah border crossing, Coordinator of government activities in the regions He said on social media that the UN “should step up logistics and stop blaming Israel for its failures.”

Overall, the agency says 22,105 trucks were allowed into Gaza between October 7 and Wednesday, an average of about 100 trucks. 118 trucks daily – about a fifth of the number that entered before the war. This week, the Office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories said that Israel “to riseAid to Gaza, and more than 1,200 aid trucks entered Gaza within three days. Between mid-February and mid-March, the Office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories says: 19 trucks Medical supplies enter the pocket.

Israel has imposed a land, air and sea blockade on Gaza since 2007. This blockade has included regulating the entry into Gaza of “dual-use” items, which are those that are mostly civilian in nature but can also be used militarily, such as construction materials, communications equipment and chemicals. . Israel says these restrictions are necessary to stifle Hamas' military apparatus.

Aid groups say Israel's list of dual-use items, when it comes to Gaza, far exceeds internationally recognized standards for such items. “It includes broad categories that may contain thousands of items, making it very difficult to know whether any specific item is on the list or not,” said Miriam Marmor, director of public advocacy at the Israeli human rights group Gisha. “This has, for years, affected many, many aspects of daily life on the Strip.”

Since October 7, Israel has imposed a complete blockade, and restrictions on the type of items that can enter have expanded significantly beyond dual-use items, many say.

One US official, who visited the Rafah crossing last month, described meeting with aid workers who felt extremely frustrated by the apparent arbitrariness of the rejected materials. Among these items was a box of chocolate croissants, which were apparently banned because the Israelis considered them luxury foods inappropriate for a war zone, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak frankly about their conversations during the visit.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who visited Rafah in January, said the cargo review process for entry is “completely arbitrary.”

“When you return maternity kits and water purification tablets, it is a deliberate effort to not allow much-needed goods into Gaza,” he said. “There is no rational justification.”

Impact on humanitarian work

Many aid workers said that the difficulties facing getting aid into Gaza today are unprecedented.

“The challenges of this are something I've never seen in 15 years of doing this A humanitarian official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the work on the ground, said, adding that the groups had begun to self-restrict. “They may not do everything they want because they know it takes a significant amount of time for them and they won't always win.”

In addition to aid groups, donor countries including United kingdom European Union countries also shared their frustration.

Part of a package of Belgian medical supplies was recently rejected without reason, said Caroline Jenes, Belgian Minister of Development Cooperation, adding that tons of food aid are often unacceptable due to frequent changes in rules for packaged food.

“Withholding humanitarian aid is a serious violation of international humanitarian law. Using starvation as a weapon is a war crime,” said Genis. “This madness must end.”

These experiences and confirmations have sparked a growing debate in Washington over whether the United States should suspend arms transfers to Israel Help groups Some Democrats are calling on the Biden administration to reject Israeli claims that it does not violate international law Because of its restrictions on humanitarian aid and the use of weapons provided by the United States.

“Given the current restrictions on aid delivery, there is no reasonable way anyone could find these assurances credible and reliable,” Van Hollen said.

Abigail Hauslohner and Beatriz Rios contributed to this report.