Vella visits Gaza, meets Palestinian and Israeli families

Foreign minister George Vella has visited the town of Shejaya in the Gaza Strip.

He is one of the first foreign dignitaries to visit Gaza following the tragic events that took place during the summer months. Vella was accompanied by officials from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine. 

“I am deeply shocked at the level of destruction that the people of Gaza are going through,” Vella said.

“When faced with such scenes, one doubts whether there is enough understanding and appreciation of the human suffering concentrated in this place. A long-term solution encompassing both political and humanitarian elements needs to be urgently devised to alleviate the plight of the population.”

Vella visited a boys’ school in Shejayeh that has been transformed into a makeshift reception centre for Internally Displaced People, mostly families, under the supervision of UNRWA.

The onset of winter is expected to result in increased hardship for the IDPS as the demand for warm clothing and bedding will possibly not be met, without external help and donations.

In an impassioned plea, one Palestinian mother whose house was raised to the ground by mortar shelling, asked Vella to highlight the daily tragedy of hundreds of families who lost loved ones and their lifelong belongings to an endless conflict.

Vella also visited a Health Centre in Gaza which delivers primary care services and which is struggling to keep up with the growing demands for medical attention to injuries resulting from the conflict as well as other daily medical needs of the population.

In his exchanges with UNWRA operations director Robert Turner, Vella commended the agency for the work it is carrying out in Gaza. He reiterated the long-standing support given by Malta to the agency and announced that Malta was donating another €50,000 towards its work with Palestinian families.

Vella was also shown underground tunnels discovered by the Israeli authorities constructed from Gaza into Israeli territory.

Vella also visited Israeli families in Nirim Kibbutz, which was a target of rockets fired from Gaza before the ceasefire was reached in August 2014. In drawing a comparison between the two experiences in Gaza and Nirim, Vella commented: “the human tragedy of loss and fear was evident on both sides of the conflict. It remains crucial that the world does not shelf this conflict and become passive to these daily tragedies.”