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STORY: GAZA / UNRWA SAM ROSE INTERVIEW
TRT: 06:07
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 20 JANUARY 2025, KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA STRIP
1. Various shots, temporary headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), western Khan Younis
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sam Rose, Senior Deputy Field Director, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“I'm speaking to you today from Khan Yunis on the second day of a ceasefire which came into effect at 11.15 yesterday. And since the ceasefire came into effect, we've seen dramatic changes already on the streets of Gaza. People are out and about. Children are playing. People can move around without any sense of fear. Fear that they've lived through for the past 15 and a half months. The sound of bombs has stopped and drones in the sky also. They've also fallen silent. As I say, that's been replaced by signs of life, signs of joy, signs of normality. And it's far as conditions in Gaza are normal. At this point in time, it's also been accompanied by a mass influx of aid. Yesterday, more than 600 humanitarian aid trucks were able to enter Gaza in the south and also in the north. And humanitarian organizations, UN agencies, NGOs, and the Red Crest Movement across societies are in the process of dispatching their supplies across Gaza. And the needs are immense. Right now, we're focused on bringing the supplies in. We've been stuck outside of Gaza for several months due to problems at the crossing point and due to issues with criminality. We have thousands upon thousands of trucks of food aid, of flour, and of basic shelter supplies, clothes, and tents, blankets. Things of that nature that people have been waiting for for several months. Right now, we need to get as much of that aid into Gaza as possible. We, as UNRWA, and the rest of the humanitarian community, have the infrastructure to get that aid distributed to the people most in need. As UNRWA, we have large pre-existing aid networks and response programs pre-existing before the war loads are kicking into gear. We have the capacity to continue delivering this aid if it keeps coming in. And it is coming in today as well. We're likely to see more changes over the coming days if the ceasefire holds. People are finally able to go north through the checkpoints that have severed southern Gaza from the rest of the Gaza Strip. But people in south Gaza and in north Gaza are returning to their homes. They're returning to see what's left, what they can salvage to put a foothold in their property in the hope of being able to rebuild. But this is going to be a long, complex, very expensive process. As well as distribution of aid, we need far much more. We cannot reduce this operation to aid trucks. People need a chance to recover. That takes much more than trucks of aid. We need supplies into and out of water networks. We need health systems and schools to get back up and running again. People need time and resources to deal with the trauma and the loss and the grieving that they've faced over the past 16 months. UNRWA is by far the largest aid organization inside Gaza. By far the largest provider of basic services. And that is why the main vessels are potentially soaked and devastated. Not just for UNRWA, not just for Palestine refugees who depend on UNRWA services, but for the entire population of Gaza. UNRWA is the bedrock of the aid distribution system, the backbone of that delivery. If we collectively are able to meet our responsibilities in terms of distributing aid, then UNRWA needs to be able to continue now to get the basic supplies in. And also, into the future as children, as families, as communities start that long process of rebuilding. No one is in a position to replace UNRWA services at this point in time. And the risks, not just to Palestine refugees, but to the success of the ceasefire, will higher the balance if UNRWA is unable to bring the long-term fiscal outcome that is needed to do everything that they can to halt the implementation of these bills. In the meantime, UNRWA staff, all humanitarian staff, human agencies, international NGOs, UNRWA has made this difficult to get some of the policies and guidelines. I don't wake up hearing that children or babies are dying of malnutrition. It's a start. It's a start. We live in a time of crisis.”
3. Various shots, Sam Rose working at his desk.
UNRWA’s senior official Sam Rose said, “since the ceasefire came into effect, we've seen dramatic changes already on the streets of Gaza.”
During a UNifeed interview in Gaza, Sam Rose, Senior Deputy Field Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said, “I'm speaking to you today from Khan Yunis on the second day of a ceasefire which came into effect at 11.15 yesterday. And since the ceasefire came into effect, we've seen dramatic changes already on the streets of Gaza. People are out and about. Children are playing. People can move around without any sense of fear. Fear that they've lived through for the past 15 and a half months. The sound of bombs has stopped and drones in the sky also. They've also fallen silent. As I say, that's been replaced by signs of life, signs of joy, signs of normality. And it's far as conditions in Gaza are normal. At this point in time, it's also been accompanied by a mass influx of aid. Yesterday, more than 600 humanitarian aid trucks were able to enter Gaza in the south and also in the north. And humanitarian organizations, UN agencies, NGOs, and the Red Crest Movement across societies are in the process of dispatching their supplies across Gaza. And the needs are immense. Right now, we're focused on bringing the supplies in. We've been stuck outside of Gaza for several months due to problems at the crossing point and due to issues with criminality. We have thousands upon thousands of trucks of food aid, of flour, and of basic shelter supplies, clothes, and tents, blankets. Things of that nature that people have been waiting for for several months. Right now, we need to get as much of that aid into Gaza as possible. We, as UNRWA, and the rest of the humanitarian community, have the infrastructure to get that aid distributed to the people most in need. As UNRWA, we have large pre-existing aid networks and response programs pre-existing before the war loads are kicking into gear. We have the capacity to continue delivering this aid if it keeps coming in. And it is coming in today as well. We're likely to see more changes over the coming days if the ceasefire holds. People are finally able to go north through the checkpoints that have severed southern Gaza from the rest of the Gaza Strip. But people in south Gaza and in north Gaza are returning to their homes. They're returning to see what's left, what they can salvage to put a foothold in their property in the hope of being able to rebuild. But this is going to be a long, complex, very expensive process. As well as distribution of aid, we need far much more. We cannot reduce this operation to aid trucks. People need a chance to recover. That takes much more than trucks of aid. We need supplies into and out of water networks. We need health systems and schools to get back up and running again. People need time and resources to deal with the trauma and the loss and the grieving that they've faced over the past 16 months. UNRWA is by far the largest aid organization inside Gaza. By far the largest provider of basic services. And that is why the main vessels are potentially soaked and devastated. Not just for UNRWA, not just for Palestine refugees who depend on UNRWA services, but for the entire population of Gaza. UNRWA is the bedrock of the aid distribution system, the backbone of that delivery. If we collectively are able to meet our responsibilities in terms of distributing aid, then UNRWA needs to be able to continue now to get the basic supplies in. And also, into the future as children, as families, as communities start that long process of rebuilding. No one is in a position to replace UNRWA services at this point in time. And the risks, not just to Palestine refugees, but to the success of the ceasefire, will higher the balance if UNRWA is unable to bring the long-term fiscal outcome that is needed to do everything that they can to halt the implementation of these bills. In the meantime, UNRWA staff, all humanitarian staff, human agencies, international NGOs, UNRWA has made this difficult to get some of the policies and guidelines. I don't wake up hearing that children or babies are dying of malnutrition. It's a start. It's a start. We live in a time of crisis.”
