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00:00While striking further north and further from Hezbollah strongholds, Israeli bombs kill
00:05eight people in a two-story home in the Lebanese village of Ein Yaqoub.
00:10Israel says it fired a missile to target a Hezbollah member who had fled from the south.
00:15More than 3,000 people have been killed in Lebanon over the past year since cross-border
00:20fire between Israel and Hezbollah began.
00:22On Monday, Israel's foreign minister said steps towards a ceasefire had been made.
00:27However, a spokesperson for Hezbollah said they're unaware of such.
00:32While Israeli bombs are also continuing to rain over Gaza, medics there say two strikes
00:36have killed another 14 people there, hitting a region already so badly battered.
00:43Left lying on the streets or sheltering in basements with no running water, no electricity,
00:47little if any food, people in Gaza still under siege and facing famine.
00:53While continuing to bomb and to block aid getting into the region, the UN says Israel
00:58denied 85% of aid convoys last month.
01:01A U.S. bid to put pressure on that clearly failing.
01:05We're joined now by media advisor for the Norwegian Refugee Council in the Middle East,
01:09Ahmed Bayram.
01:10Thanks so much for your time.
01:11Firstly, Mr. Bayram, can you tell me the latest you're hearing from teams on the ground, what
01:17they're hearing, what they're seeing, the situation as it stands?
01:21I mean, obviously, in northern Gaza, the situation is suffocating.
01:27People running out of not just food, not just water, but also shrouds for the people they
01:30want to bury who they're not able to bury.
01:33We've heard stories of people still looking for their loved ones stuck under the rubble
01:38and, you know, probably, you know, already, already dead.
01:44We've heard about food prices soaring further and further.
01:49Everything is either beyond reach or beyond affordability.
01:54It's a complete, almost complete siege we're talking about here, under which 80,000 people
02:01are being kept.
02:04I think what's happening in northern Gaza will probably decide the face of the coming
02:09months, probably the face or the direction of this deadly conflict.
02:16Obviously, you know, people running out of options here and people who try to cross from
02:23or get out from their homes are at risk of being shot at.
02:27So there's no way, you know, out for these people.
02:30They are stuck.
02:31They are being starved, obviously, you know, with aid cut and with no agencies allowed
02:38to provide aid.
02:40So we have probably overused the word catastrophe, but this is really what, you know, describes
02:46what's happening on the ground at the moment.
02:49Indeed, we're hearing, you know, that 90 percent, if not more, of aid that went to
02:55the border has been denied entry.
02:57Is anything getting in at all?
02:59We're hearing that they're on the brink of famine.
03:02From our experience, there's not much really.
03:04We have probably been able to bring in a couple of aid trucks here and there the entire of
03:09October.
03:11We have hundreds of thousands worth of aid still, you know, stuck on the Israeli side,
03:18probably, you know, being spoiled in the elements.
03:21This is also, don't forget, this is donor money.
03:24This is the aid that, you know, the biggest powers who also happen to be Israel's biggest
03:30allies have provided for the people to relieve the people.
03:33And there's not much that is coming in.
03:36Obviously, the crossings have almost all completely been, you know, obviously shut, probably except
03:42for a couple of crossings from where some aid makes its way.
03:48I think the international pressure has been, you know, I think short, or probably, I think
03:57to the point of embarrassment, really, what's happening on that front, on the diplomatic
04:01front and the pressure on Israel that is, you know, not being exerted enough by, you know, world powers.
04:10Indeed, it doesn't feel like there's any pressure being put on Israel.
04:13Even today, we were coming up to that deadline set by the United States saying, if Israel
04:18didn't let aid in, you know, there would be consequences.
04:21But Israel making no effort on that, or indeed on bringing this war to a conclusion.
04:28I agree.
04:29I think that probably Israel feels that it has a free hand, probably in this long period,
04:35you know, before the new president comes in.
04:37I'm not sure what the thinking is, but I know that people really can't wait one more day,
04:42let alone two months for this, for anything to change, really.
04:46So probably Israel is thinking that, you know, it can get away, and it has got away with
04:50a lot, honestly, on the humanitarian front, at least, you know, suffocating an entire
04:56population from the basics, preventing, you know, food, water, electricity, supplies,
05:03preventing fuel, you know, from coming in.
05:05Very little, very little that is making its way.
05:08So I think the level of, you know, the level of power that Israel has been allowed on the
05:15humanitarian front, at least, I don't think we have seen the likes of that anywhere else
05:20in the world, and it should never have happened.
05:23It has happened.
05:24And I think now, you know, these powers who do the talk and who do the, you know, ultimatums
05:31and deadlines have to, you know, wake up and see what's happening on the other side of
05:37this, you know, in people's homes and in shelters and on the streets.
05:43In Gaza, that is in the north, where that is in the south.
05:49And all the while we're hearing of ongoing bombing, once again, overnight, another 14
05:54people killed.
05:55You know, so much of Gaza, so many of the buildings already destroyed.
05:59You know, where do you see this going from here?
06:05I don't think anyone really has the answer outside of that cabinet in Israel.
06:11Probably, you know, we know that there are so many differences that make it futile to
06:16attempt to predict what's going to happen, even within that Israeli government.
06:22I think, you know, we have been repeating this for 14 months now, almost.
06:27We have been saying we're not going to stop saying, you know, we need a ceasefire.
06:31We do need a ceasefire.
06:32You know, we've seen in the Arab summit yesterday, you know, the Arabs will also have a big role
06:37to play into bringing this to an end, the conflict to an end.
06:41But we know, you know, the most powerful party here is Israel, with the most powerful weapons
06:46and the most advanced weapons.
06:47So all the key is probably in Washington and in Tel Aviv.
06:50So I think the pressure is now on the U.S. administration to bring this to an end, to
06:57bring this to an end before, obviously, the end of this current term.
07:01And I think the same goes for Europeans, who should, you know, get serious about ending
07:08this.
07:09So we hope, you know, the suffering will end and this bloodshed will end very soon.
07:14And in the lack, in the face of the lack of action from governments around the world,
07:18is there anything individuals can do to help these people in Gaza?
07:23I think, keep raising the voice, I think we have seen, we have seen, you know, humanity
07:28being put first on the streets of, you know, world capitals.
07:33I think for the sake of Israelis, Israeli citizens, for the sake of Israeli civilians,
07:40I should say, and hostages, and for the sake of Palestinians, this has to come an end.
07:45This is, this is, you know, this is not good for Israel.
07:49This is not good for the Palestinians.
07:51This is not good for the people of the region.
07:53So individuals should keep shouting, you know, that one word, ceasefire.
07:58That is what we need and that is the action that we need from, you know, the biggest of
08:04world powers.
08:06Yeah, maybe more protests being called for across the world and to raise our voices.
08:10Ahmed Barim, thanks so much for joining us and giving us once again an update on that
08:15picture in Gaza where the bombing and the blockade continues.