Doha: Al Raya newspaper warned of the danger posed by the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza, in light of the widespread destruction caused by the Israeli aggression, forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, and the policy of starvation practiced by the occupation against the population, which placed the territory in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
According to Qatar News Agency, Al Raya affirmed that the Israeli occupation has, since the first day of the aggression, adopted a policy of collective punishment against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, using water, food, and medicine as weapons, alongside missiles, bombs, and internationally prohibited weapons.
It noted that these policies have resulted in the martyrdom of more than 70,000 people, in addition to hundreds of thousands of wounded and displaced persons, most of them children and women, as well as more than 11,000 missing individuals.
The editorial stressed that, despite systematic killing and destruction, Palestinians have clung to their land and returned to it, asserting that Israel will not be able to impose any conditions or extract concessions from them.
In this context, the editorial addressed the warning issued by the State of Qatar, along with several Arab and Islamic countries, regarding the danger of the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation inside the Gaza Strip.
It noted that the worsening humanitarian crisis was the result of the interplay of several factors, including harsh and unstable weather conditions, such as heavy rainfall and severe storms, which have compounded the suffering of the population, at a time when the strip continues to endure the lack of sufficient humanitarian aid and an acute shortage of life-saving basic supplies.
It also pointed to the slow pace of the entry of essential materials needed to rehabilitate vital services and establish temporary housing for those affected, which has deepened the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe facing the residents of the strip.
The editorial addressed what it described as the repeated evasion by the Israeli occupation of its international commitments and pledges, emphasizing that it has not adhered to any prior commitments, particularly those related to the Palestinian people. It noted that these practices have become widely known, as the occupation seeks to exploit various circumstances to suffocate the population of Gaza and look for pretexts to evade its obligations. It also noted that these practices were not new to the international community. The paper then said that this reality has prompted Arab and Islamic countries to stress the dangers of the crimes committed by Israel against the defenseless Palestinian people, pointing to the occupation incitement against UN and international organizations in an effort to deprive Palestinians of the most basic necessities of life.
In this regard, Arab and Islamic countries, in their joint statement, praised the efforts undertaken by UN organizations and agencies, particularly the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), as well as international non-governmental organizations working in the humanitarian field, to continue providing assistance to Palestinians under extremely difficult and complex conditions.
These countries called on Israel to ensure that the United Nations and international non-governmental organizations are able to operate in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank on a sustainable basis and without restrictions, given the pivotal role these entities play in the humanitarian response inside the Strip.
Al Raya concluded its editorial by stressing that the continued neglect of a solution to the Palestinian cause negatively affects the security and stability of the region, noting that attempts at procrastination and buying time do not contribute to changing the existing reality.