Ethnic Cleansing in Gaza: Oxfam’s Response and How to Take Action
For more than sixty harrowing days, the already dire situation in North Gaza has grown even more catastrophic. Palestinians are enduring unimaginable suffering, trapped in a humanitarian nightmare without food, water, or electricity. The ethnic cleansing in North Gaza has reached catastrophic levels, forcing tens of thousands of civilians to flee their homes while countless others remain trapped under relentless bombing. What we are witnessing is a systematic attempt to erase an entire population,” said Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International’s Executive Director. Families are being torn apart, and children face a future defined by trauma and loss. Amid this devastation, we’re working tirelessly to respond. Here’s the latest from the situation on the ground and what you can do to take action.
The Crisis in North Gaza
“In the north,” explains an Oxfam staff member in Gaza, “there is only chaos and confusion, hunger and death.”
We’ve said it over and over again – Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war, a method of warfare that is prohibited by International Humanitarian Law (IHL). As the occupying power in Gaza, Israel is bound by IHL to provide for the needs and protection of the population of Gaza.
Yet, the UN has confirmed that there have been no fully completed UN food missions into North Gaza since 6 October. All kitchens and bakeries have been shut down and nutrition programs have been suspended including support programs for child malnutrition and for pregnant and breastfeeding women. Israeli authorities have rejected all UN attempts to send in emergency medics and provide fuel to keep water and sanitation services operating.
Oxfam staff inspects food parcels to be distributed in North Gaza. Photo: Jomana Elkhalili/Oxfam
Oxfam staff trying to support them have heard harrowing testimonies. Israeli soldiers have told people fleeing “don’t dream of northern Gaza again” and made false promises of food being available at the end of their forced marches out. A man from Beit Hanoun described living in a damaged school with his young son, having to sift insects from flour to make dough and lighting fires inside a classroom for fear of attracting the attention of military drones outside.
As we see Israeli forces accelerate their efforts to bombard, depopulate, deprive, and erase the Palestinian population of the North Gaza governate, it is clear that we are witnessing a campaign of ethnic cleansing in North Gaza.
READ MORE: OXFAM'S 1 YEAR GAZA ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT
Oxfam’s Response: Humanitarian Relief Against All Odds
Despite the nearly impossible operating conditions, the 35 Oxfam staff members living and working in Gaza are continuously coordinating with partners - Palestinian organizations based in Gaza - to provide cash, food, hygiene kits, clean water, clothing, and other aid to people displaced from their homes.
Since October 2023, our initiatives have reached over 700,000 households, benefitting over 1.1 million individuals. In September and October 2024 alone, Oxfam projects have supported 91,039 households by:
Providing drinking water and rehabilitating water systems
Installing toilets and collecting solid waste
Distributing hygiene kits, which include soap, diapers and materials to build temporary shelters
Distributing cash and vegetable baskets
In addition to life-saving aid, Oxfam has been providing protection support, including counselling safe spaces for young moms to breastfeed their infants, and recreational activities for young children, in particular girls.
While any level of aid is essential, this is a drop in the bucket of what should be a full-scale humanitarian response. Oxfam stands firm in its commitment to alleviating suffering, but the ongoing Israeli blockade has hampered vital efforts to deliver assistance where it is needed most. Earlier this fall, Oxfam had food parcels ready to feed 5,600 people, but the Israeli military made delivery impossible.
The suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza must end now.
A mother and daughter living in a tent shelter fill jerry cans and water bottles. Photo: Alef Multimedia/Oxfam
How To Help?
For more than a year now, Oxfam and over 50,000 Canadians have been demanding an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire and immediate access to humanitarian aid to Gaza. Access to aid must be scaled up across all of Gaza, and Palestinians must be given the freedom to move home, rebuild, and live in peace free of occupation or blockade.
“Words cannot describe the level of suffering that people are experiencing,” our Saving Lives Program Manager in Gaza, Wassem Mustasha, told us recently. Here are some ways you can lend your support to Palestinians in Gaza.
Donate to Oxfam’s emergency response fund.
Join over 50,000 Canadians who have signed Oxfam’s Petition calling for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access.
Spread Awareness by sharing Oxfam’s updates and stories on social media.
We cannot remain silent as children starve and families are torn apart; collective action can make a difference.
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