In the Gaza Strip, UNRWA acts as the only safety net for a population in immense humanitarian and social distress. For more than three years, Matthias Schmale has been the director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East. Reached by telephone, he describes at World the situation in the landlocked territory, subjected to Israeli bombardments in response to rockets from the Islamist movement Hamas.
What provisional assessment do you make of the clashes between the armed factions and the Israeli army, which once again expose civilians in Gaza?
We had three days and three nights of constant rocket fire into Israel, and in retaliation from Israeli strikes. Many colleagues say that these are more severe events than the 2014 war. An example is our excellent chief Palestinian doctor, who was very proud to say that we never had, at the time, ever closed our 22 health centers. Two days ago, she recommended doing it, in tears. ” It’s too hot “, she said, thinking of our staff. People were paralyzed, they were afraid to move. We hope to reopen the centers from Saturday to ensure minimum services, and resume collection of garbage.
When after the first night, we decided to settle for security reasons in our offices, I crossed Gaza. I had never seen this in three and a half years. It was a ghost town. On the night of Thursday May 13 to Friday May 14, a change took place, with intense fighting in the north of the Strip and artillery fire coming from Israel. As far as I can tell, they weren’t deliberately targeting civilians, but caused a massive flight of frightened residents. There are now 10,000 displaced people in around 20 schools in the North and in Gaza City, in a movement comparable to 2014.
In total, there are so far more than 100 dead and at least 400 injured. Among the victims, eight children who attended UNRWA schools died. We had already had thirteen schoolchildren killed during the two years of the “return march” [les manifestations le long de la frontière de Gaza à compter de mars 2018, réprimées par l’armée israélienne]. One of my Palestinian colleagues told me two days ago that her sister and niece had been killed. The impact on civilians is therefore direct.
And in terms of basic needs?
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