Members of the International Development Committee recently returned from Egypt, including Al-Arish in Sinai which has become the main logistics centre for the distribution of international aid and the site of a hospital for Gazans evacuated there for medical treatment.
The MPs saw first-hand the horrific nature of injuries there and heard direct testimony from aid workers on conditions in Gaza; they described it as the worst they had been exposed to in their significant professional experience. The UN reports that 70% of the casualties in the conflict are women and children; according to the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population, 57% of the Gazans removed to Egypt with injuries attributable to the conflict are under 19.
Meeting details
Dr Richard Brennan, Regional Emergency Director at the World Health Organisation and Matthew Hollingworth, Palestine Country Director at the World Food Programme – which recently announced it would be forced to stop some food aid deliveries because of threats and violence toward its staff and looting of its trucks – will give evidence on their operations under current conditions in Gaza, and in the West Bank.