LEEUWARDEN: Dutch social worker and lecturer Ellen De Bruin has described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as a continuing struggle for basic survival, saying families are facing severe shortages of food, clean water, medicine and shelter.
Speaking in an interview with JP Global, De Bruin, who said she has worked with refugees and is also a human rights activist, explained how she first established direct contact with a family in Gaza in March last year after being approached through LinkedIn.
“At first I thought, what is this? Is this real? Is somebody trying to get money from me?” De Bruin said. However, as she communicated with the family, she said she began to recognize stories similar to those she had encountered among other people experiencing displacement and hardship.
De Bruin said the direct contact changed the way she viewed the conflict. While she had previously followed developments in Gaza through news reports, she said communicating directly with families gave her a more personal understanding of the humanitarian crisis.
Aid remains far below what is needed
Discussing the role of major humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations and the Red Cross, De Bruin said aid agencies were doing what they could but were unable to meet the scale of the needs.
According to De Bruin, around 120 aid trucks were being allowed to enter Gaza each day at the time of the interview, while she said approximately 600 trucks were needed to restore humanitarian conditions to a basic level.
