Transcript: Janti Soeripto, Save the Children president and CEO, on "Face the Nation," Dec. 10, 2023

The following is a transcript of an interview with Save the Children president and CEO Janti Soeripto that aired on Dec. 10, 2023.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We want to return to the Gaza humanitarian crisis and the devastating impact on its residents, particularly children. Joining us is the president and CEO of Save the Children U.S. Janti Soeripto. Good to have you here.

JANTI SOERIPTO: Thank you for having me, Margaret

MARGARET BRENNAN: In person. We knew half of the residents of Gaza before the war were children. For those who have survived the war to date, what is life like for them?

JANTI SOERIPTO: It's an unbelievable humanitarian catastrophe, Margaret. We have no access to basic services. There is an absence of clean water. We saw in the earlier segment children drinking dirty water from a- from a pipe on the ground will- there's- the rainy season has started. There is sewage in the streets. There is no food. There is no electricity. Most of the hospitals are not functioning anymore. There is no- there's no electricity. It is unspeakable, essentially, what's unfolding before our eyes and humanitarian agencies cannot help the population of Gaza and those children in the current situation. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: Cannot help them. Why? Is that because there is only this one open gate at present to allow aid in and Israel's screening at all. 

JANTI SOERIPTO: That is- is one of the issues as well. But in the current, I mean, when the humanitarian pause happened a few days ago, for seven days, those seven days were not enough, you cannot really rebuild a warehouse in seven days. But we and the- but there was aid coming in, we could even deliver some of those supplies, even without fuel, the necessary fuel, to get stuff all the way up to the north. But currently, with all this violence, the- the attacks, the shelling, we cannot go out and deliver safely, we cannot- we also cannot ask families and children to come out and receive those deliveries because that is not safe either. People are putting up tents in the middle of the road because that's the only way to get shelter currently. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: You know, I think any parent seeing images of a child in pain or suffering, it is just so hard to stomach, but the other statistic that I saw from the UN was that 180 women give birth each day in Gaza and UNICEF said 105,000 breastfeeding mothers are struggling to even feed themselves. If you aren't getting a newborn baby food in those first six months, you are setting them up for a horrible life. So what is happening to that next generation?

JANTI SOERIPTO: Exactly right. We see, you know, mothers can't feed their children. Mothers are giving birth in overcrowded shelters. They're having C-sections without anesthesia. I mean, you know, we've got premature babies in incubators that cannot run because there's no electricity. No, it is absolutely horrific what has happened to this generation of children and we know that if they don't get the food and the necessary supplies that they need, certainly those first you know months of life that is already setting them behind.

MARGARET BRENNAN: The U.S. vetoed that cease-fire call at the United Nations and afterwards, your organization released a statement said Israel is forcing civilians into so-called safe zones that cannot accommodate them and quote, deliberately depriving the civilian population of food, water and fuel, willfully impeding relief supplies and using starvation as a method of warfare. That is a very strong allegation in that press release yesterday. Why do you say this is deliberate?

JANTI SOERIPTO: There is, I mean, look, humanitarian organizations like ours, we're really running out of words to describe how bad it is. We work in crisis all over the world, from Afghanistan, to Sudan, to Ethiopia, to the Democratic Republic of Congo. So we are no strangers to war and conflict, but what is happening here is that there is- there's two million people, a million children in a very, very small space. There is no way to get out. Nobody can flee, which is not the case in most of these other crises and there's nothing coming in and there's an absence of basic necessities. So the siege that's put on the people of Gaza is not- a we cannot do it. There is no market of sorts to allow people to get access to food and water and anything they need. So- so we think that is a willful, you know–

MARGARET BRENNAN: It's a choice. 

JANTI SOERIPTO: It's a choice. It's a choice and it's withholding aid from the population.

MARGARET BRENNAN: The United States, the President himself, has been on the phone pressing for aid to flow in more. There are other ways to get into Gaza. Israel controls those gates. Have they opened yet? Because the White House said they were about to.

JANTI SOERIPTO: We haven't heard anything of that effect. The Rafah Crossing is open. It was never set up to allow for that capacity of aid that is required. Also, we haven't seen even those 100, 150 trucks, 200 trucks come- come across the Rafah Crossing over the past couple of days after the ending of the pause. So we are continuously calling for Kerem Shalom to also open to allow for more to come in if and when the fighting stops.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Will you stay working in Gaza? Can you? 

JANTI SOERIPTO: We will. We have been there since 1953. We are not leaving now. We have 25 staff there. We won't leave, but at the moment working for us in a safe and quality way is impossible. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: All right. Thank you for sharing that story of what's happening inside. We'll be right back.