PAKISTAN has decided to immediately dispatch humanitarian relief assistance to Gaza, to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian brothers and sisters. According to a statement of the Foreign Office, the government is coordinating with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, relevant UN agencies, the Government of Egypt and Pakistan Missions abroad to finalize modalities of delivery.
The announcement reflects aspirations of the people of Pakistan, who stand firmly with the oppressed people of Gaza and are ready to go to any extent to alleviate their sufferings. However, in the given situation, when the Jewish state is demonstrating inhuman behaviour by senselessly bombing defenceless people including children and women, any statement about provision of humanitarian aid is reduced to mere expression of intent to support and nothing else. Israel has laid a crippling siege to the entire territory and bombed every nook and corner of the area, not sparing even hospitals, schools and mosques. Reports of international media say as Israeli air strikes pounded the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground offensive, the enclave’s residents were getting more desperate by the hour as water ran out, garbage piled up, explosions flattened homes and hospitals struggled to cope. Gaza is one of the most crowded places on earth, and for now there is no way out. Egypt, which also has a border with the enclave, has so far resisted calls to open it to fleeing residents. Garbage is also piling up on the streets and inside shelters for the displaced, raising fears of a health crisis. Doctors have been scrambling to help a rising number of patients, including children injured in the air strikes, in overcrowded hospitals that are running short on medicines and fuel due to the blockade. The plight of Gazans would become all the more serious in case Israel persists with its threat of launching a ground offensive as the world is not showing required urgency to ensure a ceasefire. The UN should take a lead and provide necessary security cover to all humanitarian supplies to the besieged area.
