Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUN / GAZA PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: UN / GAZA PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS
TRT: 06:24
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 27 FEBRUARY 2024, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters
27 FEBRUARY 2024, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council, OCHA’s Ramesh Rajasingham on screen
3. Wide shot, delegates
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ramesh Rajasingham, Director of Coordination, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“In December, it was projected that the entire population of 2.2 million people in Gaza would face high levels of acute food insecurity by February 2024 – the highest share of people facing this level of food insecurity ever recorded worldwide. And here we are, at the end of February, with at least 576,000 people in Gaza –one-quarter of the
population – one step away from famine.”
5. Med shot, Israeli representative
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ramesh Rajasingham, Director of Coordination, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“Unfortunately, as grim as the picture we see today is, there is every possibility for further deterioration. Military operations, insecurity, and extensive restrictions on the entry and delivery of essential goods have decimated food production and agriculture. Food security experts warn of complete agricultural collapse in northern Gaza by May if conditions persist, with fields and productive assets damaged, destroyed, or inaccessible.”
7. Wide shot, Council, FAO’s Maurizio Martina on screen
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Maurizio Martina, Deputy Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO):
“The cessation of hostilities and restoration of humanitarian space to deliver assistance and restore services are essential first steps in eliminating a risk of Famine. A critical priority is to restore safe, sustained humanitarian access throughout the Gaza Strip and to all those in need of lifesaving assistance. Border crossings should be reopened, including for commercial traffic. Essential commodities must be allowed to move into and throughout Gaza.”
9. Wide shot, Council, WFP’s Carl Skau on screen
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP):
“The breakdown in civil order, driven by sheer desperation, is preventing the safe distribution of aid. We are now urgently exploring all viable delivery options to allow the resumption of operations in northern Gaza as soon as possible. This is an absolute humanitarian imperative. The staff on our convoys witnessed catastrophic conditions in the north: food and clean water are scarce; malnutrition is soaring, and disease is rife.”
9. Med shot, Palestinian and Tunisian representatives
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP):
“If nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza. We must all double down and live up to our responsibilities to ensure it does not happen on our watch.”
11. Wide shot, Council
12. Wide shot, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour addressing Council
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer to the United Nations, Palestine:
“That this catastrophic famine and genocide has been allowed to happen at all and allowed to continue for this long, brings shame on all of us, not least this Security Council that continues to fail to demand a ceasefire and ensure respect for international law and for its own resolutions, leaving the Palestinian people to the mercy of the occupying power that has zero regard for IHL obligations to ensure the safety and well-being of the civilian population under its control, choosing instead to terrorize, kill, maim, displace and starve them.”
14. Med shot, Israeli Ambassador Brett Jonathan Miller addressing Council
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Brett Jonathan Miller, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Israel:
“How can it be that Israel is libelous held responsible for a situation that is clearly the UN's fault? The conduct of the UN in the field must be streamlined and humanitarian aid must be distributed more effectively. This is the solution. Israel is committed to improving the humanitarian situation in the northern part of Gaza as well. Accordingly, yesterday, Israel permitted and facilitated the air drops of 64 Jordanian and French food packages throughout Northern Gaza. The UN on the other hand, has refused to deliver aid to this area. UN agencies decision to suspend the distribution of aid to Northern Gaza is not only counterproductive, but harmful to the Palestinian civilian population. And it's also used as yet another way to demonize Israel.”
16. Wide shot, end of Council session
FILE - WFP - 15 JANUARY 2024, DEIR EL BALAH, PALESTINE
17. Various shots, people fleeing Rafah with their belongings
FILE - WFP - 18 FEBRUARY 2024, DEIR EL BALAH, PALESTINE
18. Various shots, displaced people in makeshift camp
19. Med shot, interior tent
FILE - WFP - 16 FEBRUARY 2024, RAFAH
20. Various shots, WFP Food Distribution, families receive flour and canned food
FILE - WFP - 28 JANUARY 2024, CENTRAL GAZA
21. Various shots, WFP Convoy Waits for Clearance to Proceed to Gaza City
Well over half a million Gazans are just a step away from famine, said senior UN humanitarians, briefing the Security Council today (27 Feb) on food security in the stricken enclave.
The deputy head of UN aid coordination, Ramesh Rajasingham, recalled that in December, it had been projected that the entire population of 2.2 million people in Gaza would face high levels of acute food insecurity by February 2024, “the highest share of people facing this level of food insecurity ever recorded worldwide.”
Rajasingham said, “here we are, at the end of February, with at least 576,000 people in Gaza –one-quarter of the
population – one step away from famine.”
The humanitarian official said, “unfortunately, as grim as the picture we see today is, there is every possibility for further deterioration” as military operations, insecurity, and extensive restrictions on the entry and delivery of essential goods, “have decimated food production and agriculture.”
Rajasingham said, “food security experts warn of complete agricultural collapse in northern Gaza by May if conditions persist, with fields and productive assets damaged, destroyed, or inaccessible.”
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Deputy Director-General, Maurizio Martina, said a “critical priority is to restore safe and sustained humanitarian access throughout the Gaza Strip and to all those in need of lifesaving assistance.”
He said, “border crossings should be reopened, including for commercial traffic. Essential commodities must be allowed to move into and throughout Gaza.”
For his part World Food Programme (WFP) Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau said, “the breakdown in civil order, driven by sheer desperation, is preventing the safe distribution of aid.” and stressed that WFP is “urgently exploring all viable delivery options to allow the resumption of operations in northern Gaza as soon as possible.”
He said this was “an absolute humanitarian imperative” and noted that WFP staff on had “witnessed catastrophic conditions in the north: food and clean water are scarce, malnutrition is soaring, and disease is rife.”
Skau said, if nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza. We must all live up to our responsibilities to ensure it does not happen on our watch.”
Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said, “that this catastrophic famine and genocide has been allowed to happen at all and allowed to continue for this long, brings shame on all of us, not least this Security Council that continues to fail to demand a ceasefire and ensure respect for international law and for its own resolutions, leaving the Palestinian people to the mercy of the occupying power that has zero regard for IHL obligations to ensure the safety and well-being of the civilian population under its control, choosing instead to terrorize, kill, maim, displace and starve them.”
Israeli Ambassador Brett Jonathan Miller said, “how can it be that Israel is libelous held responsible for a situation that is clearly the UN's fault? The conduct of the UN in the field must be streamlined and humanitarian aid must be distributed more effectively. This is the solution. Israel is committed to improving the humanitarian situation in the northern part of Gaza as well. Accordingly, yesterday, Israel permitted and facilitated the air drops of 64 Jordanian and French food packages throughout Northern Gaza. The UN on the other hand, has refused to deliver aid to this area. UN agencies decision to suspend the distribution of aid to Northern Gaza is not only counterproductive, but harmful to the Palestinian civilian population. And it's also used as yet another way to demonize Israel.”
WFP last week announced it was pausing aid deliveries to the north of Gaza until conditions are in place that allow for safe distributions. A breakdown of civil order is causing serious obstacles for all humanitarian groups trying to distribute aid. People in Gaza need to know that they can rely on a regular flow of food supplies, both from aid convoys and the private sector.
