Major Humanitarian Crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territories


02/04/02

With the current large plan from the Israeli armed forces, the situation in the Palestinian Occupied Territories has significantly worsened in the last 24 hours. Dramatic developments include the evidence that Israel is deliberately targeting some medical facilities (and in particular UPMRC’s) and that the humanitarian crisis is deepening hour after hour. Without major international intervention, the worse is to come in the Palestinian territories.

For five days now, Israeli troops have reinvaded autonomous towns, one after another: Ramallah, Qalqiliya, Tulkarem, and Bethlehem have come under Israeli occupation, while tanks prepare to enter the remaining towns. Nablus, for example, was totally sealed off last night. Ramallah and Qalqiliya are under total curfew, which prevents anyone from stepping out of her-his house. A serious humanitarian crisis is currently unfolding: electricity and water are unavailable at times (or always, depending on the location), and as days pass by, lack of food and water has become a serious issue.

In blatant violations of international humanitarian rights, medical access has been denied to thousands of people. Injured people have bled to death. Doctors have been used as human shields in the house-to-house searches and have been constantly denied access to casualty locations.

In the last 24 hours, Israeli troops have targeted many of UPMRC’s facilities. The main office in Ramallah came under heavy machine gunfire, its clinic in Qalqiliya has been damaged and now serves as an interrogating room, the Ramallah youth center was shelled as well, and one UPMRC ambulance was destroyed. UPMRC can also bear witness that other NGO offices have been ransacked in the last hours (al-Haq and HDIP in Ramallah).

UPMRC is receiving an increasing number of calls for help from the population to meet their basic needs. Medical treatment must be administered urgently, medical supplies are becoming scarce and food and water supply is becoming a serious issue.

What the world is now witnessing is not a war between two equal sides. It is nothing but a one-sided war, with highly equipped troops on one side crushing small pockets of weak police resistance in densely populated civilian areas , stopping health professionals in their duties, and humiliating and endangering the lives of a harmless civilian population.

UPMRC calls upon the international community to react strongly against the current humanitarian crisis. We demand all organizations and/or governments to:

1) put pressure on the Israeli government to stop its atrocities;

2) help and assist materially and financially our efforts to supply urgent medication, and food to population under re-occupation;

3) equip the voluntary village health workers of UPMRC network with first aid and emergency treatment equipment, to be able to treat casualties also in non-urban zones, and in cities that have not been yet re-invaded;

4) send brigades of nurses and doctors to assist local medical staff

5) all international voluntary presence is vital in the Territories and can greatly facilitate the work of doctors and health professionals. This can be done through the Grassroots International Protection of the Palestinians.

THIS IS AN URGENT CALL FOR ALL HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATIONS WORLWIDE TO INTERVENE IMMEDIATELY

For more information, please contact Suher or Juliana at: Medical Relief – 00972 (0)2 583 3510 or 5834021