Humanitarian Impacts of Escalated Violence in Gaza

This event was pre-recorded on May 19 from 9:00 – 9:45 AM EDT and will be uploaded to this event page and available for public viewing on May 21.

As a tentative ceasefire between Israel and Hamas takes hold, a significant humanitarian toll remains in Gaza. Airstrikes over the past two weeks severely exacerbated existing humanitarian challenges, damaging water and sanitation systems, as well as critical health infrastructure. This comes at an already challenging time resulting from a spike of Covid-19 infections, which was overwhelming Gaza’s healthcare system. 

Jacob Kurtzer, Director and Senior Fellow of the CSIS Humanitarian Agenda, spoke with Dr. Elizabeth Campbell, Director of the UNRWA Representative Office in Washington, and Dr. Zaher Sahloul, President of MedGlobal, on the humanitarian impact of the airstrikes in Gaza, as well as the role of the humanitarian community in response. 

This event is made possible through general support to CSIS.