EXPLAINER - What is a humanitarian corridor?

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - The clashes between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas since Saturday continue to take a huge toll on the lives of people in the region.

The situation in the region escalated following a surprise attack on Israel by Hamas. It said the offensive was in response to the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in recent days, and growing violence by Israeli settlers on Palestinians.

Israel retaliated with airstrikes on Gaza, and said it would cut off electricity, food, water and other supplies to the enclave, which is home to nearly 2.2 million people, and has already been reeling under a crippling blockade since 2007.

Adnan Abu Hasna, spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), told Anadolu on Wednesday that Gaza will face an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” if safe corridors are not opened up for the arrival of humanitarian aid.

Though nothing has materialized, various international actors have made rising calls for establishing a humanitarian corridor to the Gaza Strip.

- What is a humanitarian corridor?

On its website, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) defines humanitarian corridors as “essentially agreements between parties” to an armed conflict to allow for safe passage in a specific geographic area for a limited period of time.

According to the ICRC, such safe passages allow the transport of humanitarian aid to geographic areas affected by a conflict, while also allowing for the evacuation of those wounded.

Despite their crucial role in providing aid to affected areas and giving safe passage for civilians, the Red Cross underlines that humanitarian corridors are not an ideal solution due to their limitations in scope.

It further indicates that civilians must be protected from the effects of a particular conflict and must be allowed to evacuate the area where the conflict is taking place even if there is no safe passage agreement in effect.

“Humanitarian organizations must be able to work whenever and wherever necessary to provide protection and assistance to people affected by armed conflict,” it says.

“Those engaged in the fighting must ensure that IHL (international humanitarian law) rules on the conduct of hostilities are respected in order to protect civilians, and that humanitarian assistance can reach those in need,” it adds.

- Examples of humanitarian corridors

The establishment of humanitarian corridors has been a common practice during many conflicts in recent times.

Days after the Feb. 24, 2022 start of the Russia-Ukraine war, on March 4, Moscow and Kyiv agreed on the creation of a joint working group under ICRC mediation in a bid to address the establishment of humanitarian corridors to areas of fierce conflict.

The corridors sought to facilitate the evacuation of civilians, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid, were unsuccessful, after which both sides failed to agree on the matter on multiple occasions.

More recently, this August, Ukraine announced the establishment of temporary corridors for merchant vessels arriving at and departing from the country’s ports in the Black Sea, after Russia suspended its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative the previous month.

The unilaterally declared corridors aimed to provide shipment of grain to world markets, despite the grain deal’s collapse.

Elsewhere, the Lachin road has been used to transport humanitarian aid and has provided safe passage to the Armenian population from Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region, which was liberated from nearly three decades of Armenian occupation in clashes in fall 2020, and later from separatist groups this September.

Serving as the only land route to Karabakh from Armenia, the Lachin road was the center of political tension between Baku and Yerevan in recent months over Armenia’s claims that Azerbaijan was causing a “humanitarian crisis” in the region by “blockading” the road.

Azerbaijan vehemently denied Armenia’s claims and has proposed the use of another route, the Aghdam-Khankendi road, for shipments to the region.

In Syria, humanitarian corridors have been a lifeline for locals in the country, which a vicious civil war has kept in its grip since 2011.

The Bab Al-Hawa border crossing into northwest Syria has allowed the delivery of aid to four million people by the UN since 2014, while the Bab al-Salam and Al-Ra’ee border crossings were also opened following two earthquakes centered in Türkiye that ravaged the region this February, including Syria.​​​​​​​