NEW YORK -- Consensus has emerged in the Middle East, among people of otherwise widely divergent views, on one point: Something must be done for ordinary families in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They face a crisis that threatens everyone in the region.
On July 16, Ariel Sharon, Israel's prime minister, telephoned Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general, to ask for an international effort to help the Palestinian people. On July 24, Daniel Kurtzer, the American ambassador in Israel, calling the situation in the territories "a humanitarian disaster," urged Israel to lift travel restrictions on Palestinians. And on July 26, the New York Times reported that a study by the United States Agency for International Development had found dramatically increased malnutrition and anemia among Palestinian children.
By July 28, Sharon announced an easing of travel and other restrictions and named Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to coordinate relief. The U.N. hopes these decisions will be swiftly implemented in such a way that they make a substantive difference in the living conditions of ordinary Palestinians.