By Voon Miaw Ping
KUALA LUMPUR: Gaza Strip is in a dire situation as civilian death toll continues to rise amid the aggression and total blockade on the Palestinian enclave by the Israeli regime.
Dr Tareq M. Altalmas, Global Peace Mission Malaysia (GPM) coordinator at its humanitarian centre in Gaza City, said the supply of basic necessities including water and electricity have been severely disrupted making life more difficult for the displaced Palestinians.
He said telecommunication lines were not working in most parts of the enclave, critically cutting off communication within the enclave and to the outside world most of the time.
“Bombing continues without pre alerts, killing families, children and women. Many families were eliminated from the country’s records in a blink of an eye,” he told Bernama via messaging from ground zero.
Tareq who runs the centre, opened three years ago together with 10 Palestinian volunteers said albeit the ongoing violence, the centre is doing its level best in providing aid to those in need.
“We are facing problems to move on the ground due to the incessant bombings as there is no redline for the Israeli occupation forces. Journalists, medical teams, civilians every one of them can be a target of the Israeli occupation forces,” he said.
Escalation of violence between the Israel-Palestine conflict since Oct 7 has left heavy causalities on both sides. More than 2,400 people have been killed so far, including at least 1,100 Palestinians and 1,300 Israelis, while thousands more were wounded.
More than150,000 people in Gaza Strip were internally displaced as thousands of homes, public institutions and infrastructure were destroyed by Israeli raids.
“We are now trying to provide necessities to those who are displaced in UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) schools. It is estimated that more than 100,000 people are now taking refuge at these schools.
“Pray for us,” Tareq said.
Meanwhile, GPM CEO Ahmad Fahmi Mohd Samsudin when contacted by Bernama urged Malaysia’s Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to urge his Egyptian counterpart to open the Rafah crossing, to enable humanitarian aid to be delivered to Gaza.
He said Gaza is on the edge of a humanitarian catastrophe, if no actions are taken to stop the ongoing violence against the Palestinians.
“The Rafah crossing is the only lifeline for the Palestinians now,” he said.
Rafah Crossing which is the only border crossing at the Egypt-Gaza borders and the only one not controlled by the Israeli army has also been reportedly hit by the Israeli air raids on Tuesday.
Fahmi added that GPM is ready to mobilise its humanitarian resources to Gaza once they receive the green light from the authorities to do so.
Meanwhile, he also appealed to the general public to donate to GPM’s “Taufan Al-Aqsa” emergency fund, which was launched Wednesday, to help the Palestinians. All contributions can be channelled to Global Peace Mission at Maybank Islamic: 5642-2161-1602. — BERNAMA
