Blocking aid, Israel escalates cruelty in Gaza

Few ambulances and trucks carrying supplies have been allowed into the Gaza Strip since the October ceasefire

- AMED KHAN GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

THE RAFAH BORDER crossing opened Feb. 2 for limited access but closed again last week.

(ALI MUSTAFA Getty Images)

FOR MORE THAN five months, 15,000 boxes of children's cold medicine and other vital medicines meant for kids in the Gaza Strip have been sitting in a warehouse, awaiting approval from Israeli authorities that never seems to come.

To Israeli officials, the cold medicine I am trying to deliver is a potential weapon. Israeli officials fear that Hamas will steal the bottles and transform the small amounts of glycerin in the medicine to make explosives, despite there being no evidence that armed groups in Gaza have done or could do this. Israel has refused to clarify what percentage of glycerin would be allowed, so we can't even source an alternative that would be assured of clearance. The medicine remains in a warehouse while children in Gaza continue to die because they can't get basic treatments.

Since the ceasefire was announced last October, Israel has embarked on a quieter war on the people of Gaza, with continued airstrikes, land grabs and destruction of entire neighborhoods, and by making our work as humanitarians near impossible. We continue to witness a humanitarian catastrophe while aid sits in warehouses just outside Gaza. The international community needs to hold Israel to commitments made in the ceasefire agreement before another child dies needlessly.