This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Israel is threatening to relaunch its war on Gaza, just days after the U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect. Israel has accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire deal after failing to turn over the remains of all 28 deceased hostages in 72 hours. Earlier today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, quote, “The fight is not over yet.” He said Israel is determined to secure all of the remaining bodies. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz has reportedly instructed the Israeli military to develop new plans to defeat Hamas.
On Wednesday, Hamas said it had turned over two more bodies, bringing the total number to nine, but said it would need specialized equipment to search through the rubble to find the bodies of the 19 remaining captives. Israel has not allowed the specialized equipment into Gaza.
Speaking at the White House, President Trump acknowledged Hamas is facing a difficult task.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, they’re looking for them, absolutely. They’re looking. So, we have the living hostages all back. They returned some more today. It’s a gruesome process. I almost hate to talk about it so. But they’re digging. They’re actually digging. There are areas where they’re digging and they’re finding a lot of bodies. Then they have to separate the bodies. You wouldn’t believe this. This is — and some of those bodies have been in there a long time. And some of them are under rubble. They have to remove rubble.
AMY GOODMAN: This all comes as Israel’s military continues deadly attacks on Palestinians. Al Jazeera reports Israeli fire killed at least three Palestinians so far today.
Meanwhile, aid groups say far more food and aid is desperately needed, as Israel continues to severely limit the number of aid trucks into the besieged territory.
We go now to Deir al-Balah in Gaza, where we’re joined by Rachael Cummings, Save the Children International’s humanitarian director and team lead in Gaza.
Rachael, describe what’s happening on the ground, even as the ceasefire has taken effect.
RACHAEL CUMMINGS: Thank you.
Yeah, I mean, in Gaza now there is a sort of cautious optimism since Thursday, when the ceasefire was announced. But, of course, the needs of children and their families has not changed since that time. What we need is to be able to run our nutrition centers, our health clinics, provide the learning opportunities, the child protection services and, of course, lifesaving interventions, including water. To allow us to do that, we need humanitarian supplies to enter into Gaza, alongside commercial supplies, with certainty and at scale.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Rachael, if you could say — hundreds of thousands of Gazans now are attempting to return to what was once their home. Is aid reaching them as they make this journey, and many of them, of course, finding that there’s nothing left of their homes?
RACHAEL CUMMINGS: Yeah, the scale of the destruction and devastation across the whole of Gaza is extraordinary. Yesterday, I drove from Deir al-Balah through Khan Younis, and every single building is damaged or destroyed, and people are living under the rubble. And, of course, as you said, hundreds of thousands of people are in desperate need of shelter, of essential supplies.
We’re soon to be entering into winter. It’s getting quite cold now in Gaza, and people have completely inadequate shelter to protect them from the elements. People need shelter, tents. They need blankets. We need all of these items, including basics like children’s clothes, children’s shoes, to protect people in this winter period. But, no, we do not have enough supplies entering Gaza. And as I said, these need to come in at scale and consistently.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And if you could say, Rachael — you know, UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, has said they have a three-month supply of food for everyone in Gaza, and they’re just waiting — just outside Gaza, and they’re just waiting to get in. Do you know what the status is of UNRWA? I mean, are they still banned from working there? And when will these trucks get in?
RACHAEL CUMMINGS: UNRWA continues to provide services, health — essential services, health, education services, in Gaza. Save the Children, along with many of the humanitarian actors in Gaza, have supplies on the other side of Gaza and are trying to navigate the complexity of bringing these supplies in. We’ve been very fortunate, with our partnerships with the United Nations, with UNICEF, with WHO, to allow us to continue providing the services in our health centers and our nutrition points by receiving supplies from them inside Gaza for the last — since March, actually.
So, what we need, again, is these humanitarian supplies, UNRWA supplies, other supplies, to enter to Gaza. We have them outside. We know, as humanitarian agencies, alongside the U.N., how to do safe and dignified distributions. And this is what’s needed now, again, at scale and consistently.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about what has happened with the, to say the least, controversial, shadowy Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, where so many people, men, women and children who were seeking aid, were killed on their way to getting food? Is it operating at all right now, the U.S.-backed Israeli group that was solely allowed to provide aid? And how is all the aid — how are the international groups resuming control of distributing food?
RACHAEL CUMMINGS: So, my understanding of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is it is no longer operating. We’ve heard reports that some of their sites have been dismantled and closed down, but I have no other information than what’s publicly available.
In terms of humanitarian organizations and the U.N., of course, who are still able to bring in supplies — and we’ve seen this increase in the number of supplies that have been able to enter since the ceasefire was announced on Thursday — we have very strong relationships with communities. Save the Children has been working in Gaza since the 1950s. We know our communities and how to serve people in Gaza. And really, the critical element of that is the relationships that we have and the communication and the trust that we are holding with the communities.
So, if we’re able to bring in our supplies, communicate with the communities that these are coming, the distribution is going to be safe. And therefore, what we need to ensure, of course, during distributions of any kind is that the most vulnerable people, the child-headed households, the pregnant women, the elderly, the disabled, are prioritized, because we know, through many, many experiences, that these are the most vulnerable in these times.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Rachael, finally, if you could just comment on a report, The Guardian reporting, saying that it’s not enough to just count the number of trucks getting into Gaza, because not all the trucks are carrying aid that is helpful to people in Gaza? On Wednesday, The Guardian reported that commercial operators are sending convoys of trucks full of chocolate, fizzy drinks and snacks, which have, of course, very little nutritional value. Do you know anything about this? And also, who are these commercial operators?
RACHAEL CUMMINGS: Well, we see this in the markets in Gaza throughout this war, have responded whenever supplies, whether commercial or humanitarian, enter into Gaza. And now the markets are responding to that entry of supplies. And we see chocolate and cans of drinks in the market. But we also see nutritious food. We see rice, we see flour, we see fruit, and we see vegetables.
But what we need, of course, in addition to the humanitarian and commercial supplies entering into Gaza, is services. And children need essential services, including the health centers, the nutrition centers, but also learning and child protection. You know, we’re now at this cautious optimism, where children are able to start building hope and hope for the future. The bombs have stopped dropping for the first time significantly in two years, and that allows us, as an organization like Save the Children, to work with children to build hope for the future with the services that we’re providing.
AMY GOODMAN: Rachael Cummings, we want to thank you for joining us, Save the Children International’s humanitarian director and team lead in Gaza, in Deir al-Balah.
