Statement on the Occasion of World Humanitarian Day: 680 Days of Genocide and 680 Days of Unprecedented Resilience

SadaNews - On World Humanitarian Day, we celebrate the workers, employees, and volunteers in Palestinian civil organizations. For more than 680 days, they have been writing an epic of sacrifice and giving in the face of genocide and a suffocating siege. We remember our colleagues who sacrificed their lives for their humanitarian mission in serving our people and alleviating their suffering.

They were not stopped by destruction. They were not deterred by bombardments. They continued their work in saving lives and alleviating the suffering of all segments of society, from children to women and the elderly, proving that humanity is the strongest weapon in confronting the machinery of war and genocide.

They have paid a heavy price in blood and freedom, as more than 225 of our colleagues—employees and volunteers—have been martyred, and hundreds have been injured. Furthermore, more than 20 of them have been arrested and imprisoned while fulfilling their humanitarian work, whether in rescuing the injured or delivering aid. The occupation has destroyed 90% of the offices and facilities of Palestinian civil organizations.

Moreover, the occupation is preventing the entry of humanitarian aid for Palestinian and international civil organizations, which restricts their capacity to carry out life-saving humanitarian responses, exacerbating the humanitarian catastrophe faced by our people.

On this day, we also stand in reverence for the martyrs of humanitarian work from the Palestinian Red Crescent and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and other humanitarian institutions, showing sympathy for their injured and imprisoned, and paying tribute to all those who risk their lives to preserve the lives of others.

The international community has let down relief workers in the face of this aggression by failing to provide protection, holding the occupation accountable, as well as by not seriously pressuring for the opening of crossings and the entry of humanitarian aid.
We call on the community to take responsibility:
• Protect humanitarian workers.
• Open the crossings for aid without obstacles.
• Hold accountable those who target those who carry only the principles of humanitarian work.