GTN Europe spoke to Kristen Phelps, Country Director of World Vision Jerusalem West Bank Gaza
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00:00Kristen Phelps is the country director of World Vision in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza.
00:05She joins us now.
00:06Thanks so much for your time.
00:09How quickly could you mobilize for this flood of humanitarian aid that is needed?
00:17Well, we certainly welcome the ceasefire that's taking place in Gaza and it provides that
00:22glimmer of hope that we might finally be able to move towards an end of the brutality that's
00:26claimed the lives of tens and thousands of children and families across the region.
00:30And we're hoping and praying that it's going to hold and lead to an end of these hostilities
00:35in the West, both the West Bank and Gaza that will allow for unimpeded access of humanitarian
00:41organizations to all affected communities.
00:43All right.
00:44So what green light exactly are you waiting for?
00:47Will it be the hoped for announcement of a ceasefire on Sunday?
00:53Will that open the floodgates for the aid to come in?
00:57I think there's a lot of anticipation by the humanitarian community.
01:02I think that is, of course, a necessary step to be able to access humanitarian assistance
01:08to the area.
01:09I think one of the things that's notable is that there is quite a lot riding on this agreement
01:15in terms of access of humanitarian aid, but humanitarian actors were largely not part
01:20of the negotiation process.
01:21And so it will be very important that both humanitarian organizations as well as decision
01:27makers work together to ensure that we are able to meet those set targets for this heavily
01:34needed humanitarian aid, much of which has been waiting for months just outside of borders
01:38to be able to enter.
01:39So the aid is there, it's waiting.
01:42Do you as yet have details of how it can be mobilized, which areas of entry you might
01:47be able to access?
01:48Or is that still unclear?
01:51I think it's still unclear.
01:52We do welcome the announcement, of course, that it looks like as part of the ceasefire
01:56agreement, it does look that we'll start to see new border areas opening up.
02:01However, it has been largely restricted over the last 15 months that we've been experiencing
02:05this crisis.
02:06And so we do wait with anticipation to see how decision makers will be able to help facilitate
02:13that access of humanitarian assistance.
02:17For how long, realistically, do you think aid agencies are going to have to help Gaza?
02:23I think given the level of destruction that we've seen, we're really looking at many,
02:31many years.
02:32The situation across the region remains very difficult and a ceasefire is not going to
02:36change this bleak reality.
02:38We see a million children in Gaza experiencing acute hunger, half of them in near famine
02:44like conditions, if not experiencing famine outright.
02:48And the situation in the West Bank is also great.
02:50Levels of violence are absolutely unprecedented and we've seen movement restrictions preventing
02:55people from going to work, cultivating their fields.
02:5890% of families have seen their income reduced, which has sent more than 75% of the population
03:04into poverty.
03:05So what we're looking at is a sustained need of support to help these families rebuild
03:12their lives and rebuild hope in their future.
03:14And the ceasefire is a necessary first step down that long road.
03:17Thank you so much for chatting to us, Kristen Phelps, Country Director of World Vision in
03:21Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza.