15/03/2024 – Sydney

NIF welcomes the announcement that the Australian government will be restoring urgently needed aid to Gaza. The dire humanitarian situation in the region calls for urgent action, with over 31,000 Gazans dead and many more facing starvation and malnutrition.

The Australian government has taken the decision to work with allies across the world to mitigate this disaster and ensure that food stocks delivered by the international community are able to reach Gazans in need. 

Executive Director of the New Israel Fund, Michael Chaitow said that “it is devastating to see images of people desperately scrambling over one another to get to food aid as it lands from the skies and seas in incredibly limited volumes.”

“We must do more to ensure that innocent civilians do not continue to be victims of the horrific violence of October 7th or the war that has ensued since”.

Since the Israeli government made allegations against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) of staff collaborating with Hamas terrorists on October 7th, an investigation has been opened and 12 accused staff have been dismissed. 

NIF welcomes the Australian government’s commitment to work with parties in the region to get to the bottom of these allegations, and to ensure that they are taken seriously. We welcome the efforts of the government to ensure that in the meantime, civilians waiting for this war to end in Gaza do not continue to suffer horrendous conditions. With Gazans resorting to eating animal feed and weeds, increased aid to the region cannot come soon enough. 

Aid will help to address the extreme suffering in the region, but a resolution to the conflict is what is ultimately needed. This war will only end when a diplomatic solution is reached, which is why NIF continues to call for a bilateral ceasefire, supported by the return of all hostages in order to support a lasting and enduring peace in the region. 

Media contact:

Michael Chaitow (NIF), 0432 629 342