'Since Gaza ceasefire the West Bank has got a lot worse'

Around 40,000 people have been displaced from refugee camps in the north of the territory, believed to be the largest forced displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank since it was captured and illegally occupied by Israel in 1967.

Katie Roxburgh, whose parents are from Islay and Glasgow, has been working in both Gaza and the West Bank with Christian Aid and the Disasters Emergency Committee in her role as programme manager for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

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She told The Herald: "I was in the West Bank for two weeks in February meeting all of Christian Aid’s partners who are there. I hadn't been in the West Bank for a year, and the change was really noticeable.

"The situation in the West Bank in just the last few weeks has got a lot worse post ceasefire in Gaza. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in the north.

"The weather is cold at the moment; and many of the people who have been forced from their homes have been left with nothing and need winter clothes, blankets, things to keep warm. In the next few weeks our partner will be distributing meals for Ramadan which starts next week, working with the farmers to get fresh fruit and vegetables to internally displaced people.

"We are monitoring the situation in the West Bank closely, because our partners are telling us that they anticipate the situation to get even worse in areas like Bethlehem and Hebron, which are in the southern West Bank. We're preparing with our partners, looking at, if the situation gets much worse there, how we can step in really quickly and respond to support people who are in need.

"When I was there, I was frequently told about, and witnessed, the new steel gates and checkpoints around the West Bank – 900 have been put up in the last few weeks, blocking people from leaving their villages or towns.

"The impact is going to be huge. Thousands of people are not able to go to work, to school, to get to hospitals. Sometimes they aren't able to go to the shops, so they don't have food. The economic impact of this is likely to get even worse in the coming weeks and months as people continue to be unable to get to work."

Talk over a second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza commenced this week in Egypt, and are meant to negotiate a complete end to the war.

That would involve the return of 59 hostages remaining in the occupied territory, 24 of whom are believed to still be alive, and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops.

However, Israel has refused to withdraw from land along the border with Egypt, in violation of the original agreement, and has been accused of other breaches.

It has signalled that an extension of the current terms may be more likely than moving to phase two.

Ms Roxburgh said: "In the last few weeks the majority of our partners who had been displaced to the south have moved back north and are encountering complete devastation. Most of their offices have been destroyed or severely damaged. They're working in really difficult circumstances; often on top of the rubble of their offices, in tents or in makeshift spaces.

"We supported a community initiative to help people trying to get back to their homes in the north. Along the road that goes between north and south Gaza, Al Rashid Street, were teams of hundreds of volunteers, positioned in 13 different places along the road, removing rubble by hand and using small machinery [such as] small diggers and spades, basically preparing the road for the masses of people who were going to be moving through it in the following days. They also were positioned there during that mass return that we saw over several days, handing out water and food.  

Christian Aid clearing rubble in Gaza (Image: Disasters Emergency Committee)

"The war has created tens of thousands of children who have lost either both their parents or one of their parents. One of our partners is supporting around 600 unaccompanied children, they've lost everything. It's devastating.

"The resilience of the Palestinian population and our partners is incredible. Our local partner staff still hold so much hope. We've seen time and time again that they've had to move and they've gone back. Many have gone back north now, and they will, if they're displaced again, go back again.  There's this huge sense of resilience and needing to stay on their land and keeping that hope alive for others around them.

"Christian Aid partners are very worried that the ceasefire could collapse at any moment. They feel that they are trying to do as much as possible now while it lasts, but living moment by moment, day by day, even hour by hour in both Gaza and the West Bank. There is a lot of uncertainty but they're doing the best they can."

DEC Director of Programmes and Accountability, Madara Hettiarachchi said: "Since the ceasefire we have seen hundreds of thousands of people returning to their communities in the north of Gaza, and DEC member charities and their local partners have been rapidly adapting their programmes to support as many of those families as possible.

"It is hard to overstate the level of destruction in the north - many people returned with only as much as they could carry with them, many are staying at or near their destroyed properties despite the acute shortage of safe shelter, clean water and other basic facilities.

"DEC charities and their local partners are distributing clean drinking water, nutritious meals and urgent medical care to people at displacement sites as well as distributing hygiene essentials. They are also continuing to provide mental healthcare and specialist support to older people and children.

"UK donations to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal are already having an impact, and more funds are desperately needed so DEC charities can continue to reach the most vulnerable families in the days and weeks ahead."

The DEC's Middle East appeal can be donated to here.