Concerns voiced over situation in Gaza

LONDON/GAZA — The foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Britain on Tuesday issued a joint statement expressing concerns over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza.

The ministers expressed "serious concerns about the renewed deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza which remains catastrophic", according to the statement released by the British Foreign Office.

Civilians in Gaza are facing appalling conditions with heavy rainfall and temperatures dropping as winter draws on, the statement said, adding that they are also suffering from severe shortages of food and healthcare facilities.

The ministers called on the Israeli government to ensure the "sustained and predictable" operation of international nongovernmental organizations in Gaza to secure a humanitarian response, and to ensure the United Nations and its partners can continue delivering aid in the region.

Israel was also urged to lift restrictions on dual-use imports and open border crossings to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid.

The Palestinian government recently urged the international community and UN agencies to take urgent humanitarian action to protect Gaza residents from harsh winter conditions and successive storms.

In a statement following its weekly meeting in Ramallah, the government called for the entry of mobile homes and other shelter supplies into the territory.

Registration rules

In another development, medical charity Doctors Without Borders expects to be barred from operating ? ?in Gaza once it misses Wednesday's deadline to comply with new registration rules for relief agencies that Israel says are meant to prevent Hamas from exploiting international aid.

The organization, which provided care to nearly half a million people during ? ?the two-year Gaza Strip conflict, says deregistration would cut off life-saving medical assistance for hundreds of thousands in the Palestinian enclave.

COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, said the charity had refused to provide Israel's Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism with a list of its employees as required.

The ministry claims individuals affiliated with the charity have linksto Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The charity rejects the accusations as unsubstantiated, adding it would never knowingly employ anyone engaged in military activity.

The dire situation in Gaza echoed a chorus of calls from the outgoing United Nations refugee chief, as he fears an increasingly fragmented world is fueling global conflicts and crises, and inflaming hostility toward people desperately fleeing for safety.

Reflecting on his decade at the helm of the UNHCR, Filippo Grandi told AFP that one of the most worrying developments had been how divisions had left the world seemingly incapable of resolving conflicts, and increasingly unwilling to deal with the repercussions.

"This fragmentation of geopolitics that has caused the emergence of so many crises is perhaps the most worrying thing," the Italian diplomat said in his final interview as UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

"This world is unable to make peace; it has become totally unable to make peace."

Xinhua-Agencies