Whirlwind week in Rafah fuels disappointment, desperation: Q&A with UNRWA head

In the Gaza Strip, fuel is one of the most precious supplies, including generators for hospitals, sanitation services, and trucks to deliver vital humanitarian aid to hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians living in desperate conditions. It is essential for supplying power to everything from

Scott Anderson, who is based in Rafah as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s (UNRWA) senior deputy director, took some solace on Friday after delivering 157,000 liters of fuel needed for the operation.

“If we give rations to the tanks, we will get a few days,” he said in a video call with The Hill from Gaza on Friday night local time.

The small southern city of Gaza, located on the border with Egypt, is at the center of the world’s attention. Israel’s seizure of the Rafah border crossing, which it claims is a major artery for humanitarian aid and arms shipments to Hamas, earlier this week sparked international alarm.

“The Rafah passenger terminal on the Gaza side, the staff there left when the IDF left.” [Israel Defense Forces] has come in, so Rapha remains closed because there is no one to run the terminal, which is a bit of a problem,” Anderson said.

“Normally it is fuel that comes to us through Rapha, but some of the trucks in the commercial sector have been shut down.”

President Biden has threatened to withhold further offensive weapons from Israel if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greenlights a major attack on Rafah, but aid groups face starvation It calls on international countries to prioritize the provision of humanitarian aid.

“Every decision we make has a real impact on people here on the ground, on innocent civilians, especially children,” Anderson said. “And what we’re here to do is make sure those people are taking care of innocent civilians and children. I just want people to know that those actions on the ground are I hope they will think a little more about how this will have such an impact.”

Anderson raised hopes for a cease-fire after Hamas said it had accepted the deal, and issued an urgent warning to evacuate the conflict area after Israel said Hamas’ terms were unacceptable. He spoke to The Hill at the end of a chaotic week in which the pendulum swung back and forth.

The conversation below has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The Hill: How important is the fuel delivery you received on Friday to your operations?

Anderson: We are very happy that we are now able to continue operating not only our logistics operations, but also the hospital’s generators.

Everything we do starts with fuel. This is because the power plant is not operating. His one power plant in Gaza is not operational. Therefore, all hospitals rely on fuel-dependent generators. Water networks, water production, sewage and solid waste. And the distribution of food and non-food items like tents and hygiene kits all starts with fuel. And while it was functionally halted until volumes arrived today, which will keep us going for a while, we need to reinvigorate and restart our normal sustainable pipeline.

The Hill: This week in Rafah, can you explain what it was like to have high hopes for the cease-fire negotiations, then disappointment, and then Israel ordering evacuations and occupying the railroad crossings and bombing areas east of Rafah?

Anderson: I think it was a hectic week.So Sunday started like this. [Hamas] Mortar attack on Kerem Shalom [crossing with Israel], closed the railroad crossing early. And when they heard that Hamas had agreed to terms, there were people literally celebrating in the streets. And then the next evacuation order was issued, even though it wasn’t on the terms that Israel had agreed to, and let’s go.

People were depressed and discouraged. They thought this was finally the beginning of the end for them and they could hopefully go home and rebuild. And it was like it was taken out from under them. It’s been a tough week, not only for civilians, but also for local UN staff and international NGO staff as they try to process all of this and continue their dedicated efforts. I commend them for their great actions and great performances, but I can’t even imagine how difficult it must be to worry about your family all day long and try to help your fellow countrymen when you think it’s over. . Survive this conflict.

The Hill: Earlier this week, the Israeli government ordered civilians in Rafah to evacuate and launched airstrikes in the eastern part of the city. What was your experience in the field like?

Anderson: The evacuation order issued by the Israel Defense Forces will directly affect about 100,000 people, and will likely also evacuate people if they live in the immediate area.

What we have seen is much more widespread population movement and migration. I live in a district called Tell Al Sultan, which is 7 kilometers from where the evacuation order was issued, and I have seen people moving there.

The situation is pretty bad. We see a lot of movement. We have tracked approximately 142,000 evacuees to date, with more likely to occur in the coming days. We haven’t been able to get any help since Sunday.

The Hill: What food aid are you distributing?

Anderson: We are giving flour, which is a staple in the food basket here in Gaza. Then it ranges a little bit from lentils, rice, canned lunch meat, oil, sugar, salt, things like that, just the staple items. If the commercial sector was functioning properly, people would be able to supplement their diets with fresh fruits and vegetables available at the market. However, the commercial sector has ceased to function. And we don’t have any cash. So, that’s a bit of a problem. Even if you have money in the bank, you cannot access it in the form of cash.

The Hill: The United States said a jetty to bring more aid into Gaza is nearly complete. How useful is this?

Anderson: In the past, there were seven crossings for transporting goods to Gaza, but they were scattered all over the place, but they gradually became smaller and smaller, with the passenger-only Erez and Kerem Shalom becoming the main crossings. Then there was Rafa for passengers, and there was a very limited amount of transportation. cargo. Therefore, anything that allows more aid to flow into Gaza is welcome, as long as it is additional and does not replace anything else.

The Hill: Many of UNRWA’s international donors suspended funding in January following Israeli claims that UNRWA staff took part in the October 7 Hamas attack. Some of these countries resumed funding following an independent UN review that recommended improved safeguards to protect UN neutrality. How has the funding pause affected your field operations?

Anderson: There are two types of funds. Macro funding for UNRWA. Maintain all services for schools. [and operations] There are also reactions to what is happening in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank, and here in Gaza.

I think the reaction to Gaza was quite strong. We were able to raise some pretty good funding.Following the Secretary’s separation of 12 staff members. [accused by Israel of participating in the Oct. 7 attack] Then Oios [Office of Internal Oversight] When we began our investigation, we found that many donor countries had resumed funding. [The U.S. and U.K. have not resumed funding, among others].

We need it to buy food and medicine and other things to take care of the people here. And as we move forward with implementing all the recommendations of the Corona Report. [Catherine Colonna, former French foreign minister and head of the review group]that will convince the US that we have done enough and will start funding again.

The Hill: What is the situation for UNRWA international staff? Where are they staying? What is the level of food and essential supplies?

Anderson: We own a property that is like a guest house with shared facilities, facing the beach. It’s not what we usually think of. But there are a lot of people who stay there and it’s not that bad.

We are trying to rotate people in and out to bring in food, but so far no people are coming in and out. We’re all dwindling, everyone else is dwindling because there’s no food coming in, no magic stores, no supplies. We are dependent on what comes in, just like everyone else. So I hope this problem gets resolved soon, before we start running out of food.