Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 21 November 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence
Budget 2024, Official Development Assistance, COP28 and Ongoing Humanitarian Situations: Dóchas
Ms Rosamond Bennett:
Yes. I was in Gaza in May. The need was huge there even before this. About 80% of the population rely on humanitarian aid and as Ms Finnan said there are very few trucks going in compared with what there was previously. We share many of the same partners but our local partners are providing medical and psychosocial care where they can where have stockpiled different supplies. They are providing as much psychosocial support as they can. Doctors we work with are going around on bicycles. They are surgeons, but they are just trying to dress wounds, go to people's homes or go to shelters to try to deal with the situation there. It is a complete drop in the ocean compared with what is needed when one thinks of how much the population relied on humanitarian aid before this and the effect of the hostilities. There needs to be a ceasefire - not a pause but an immediate ceasefire to all for hostages to be released, for medical aid to go in and for people to be treated.
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