The humanitarian pause agreed between Israel and Hamas is not at all enough to address the critical needs in the Gaza Strip, according to two NGOs in France and Belgium.
The four-day pause, which started on Friday morning, entails an exchange of Israeli hostages and the release of Palestinians jailed by Israel.
It will also allow in desperately needed aid into the Gaza Strip, where Israel has killed more than 14,800 Palestinians, including more than 10,000 women and children, and imposed a complete blockade of essential supplies, including food, water, medicines, fuel and electricity for more than six weeks.
Pierre Motin, advocacy manager of the Platform of French NGOs for Palestine, welcomed the humanitarian pause but stressed that it will not do anything for an actual resolution.
“We believe that only a durable cease-fire will bring about a sustained halt to the indiscriminate attacks on the civilian population in Gaza, and allow for the actual transfer of humanitarian aid that the Gazan population needs so desperately,” he told Anadolu.
Motin described the situation in Gaza as “catastrophic,” saying the besieged Palestinian enclave has been almost “completely razed to the ground.”
The situation in the West Bank is also critical, where more than 220 Palestinians have been killed by Israel, including at least nine killed Israeli settlers, he added.
For Arnaud Zacharie, secretary-general of the National Center for Development Cooperation, a Belgian NGO, the humanitarian pause in Gaza is “totally insufficient.”
If the airstrikes are to resume after the pause, this would only be like a small dose of oxygen and “will certainly not solve the problem structurally,” he said, calling for a complete cease-fire and the release of all hostages.
He also stressed the need to ensure respect for international law and relaunch a dialogue for a sustainable peace agreement that allows the two nations to live peacefully.
“One of the lessons of this current escalation of violence is that peace would not only benefit Palestinians … but also Israelis,” Zacharie said.
