Nearly 170 NGOs demand immediate end to Israel-US-backed Gaza aid scheme
Nearly 170 non-governmental organizations have called for the immediate discontinuation of the controversial Israel-US-backed program of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), as the number of aid seekers killed near the GHF installations has passed 500.
In a statement released on Monday, 169 NGOs called for a return to the UN-led aid mechanism that existed in the war-torn territory until March, when the Israeli regime imposed a full blockade on humanitarian assistance entering Gaza.
The signatories, which included Oxfam, Save the Children, and Amnesty International, condemned “routine” shootings by Israeli forces and armed groups towards desperate aid seekers.
“NGOs call for immediate action to end the deadly Israeli distribution scheme (including the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) in Gaza,” said the statement.
They called on the international community to take action and force the Israeli regime to “revert to the existing UN-led coordination mechanisms, and lift [its] blockade on aid and commercial supplies.”
GHF has been tasked by the Israeli regime and the US government to distribute aid in Gaza since late May, when the regime partially eased its blockade after mounting international condemnation and warnings of imminent famine.
Its operations, however, have been stymied by chaotic scenes and daily reports of Israeli forces firing on aid seekers waiting to collect rations from GHF installations.
According to the statement, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed and almost 4,000 injured while trying to access or distribute food from GHF installations.
“Under Israel's new scheme, starved and weakened civilians are being forced to trek for hours through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones, only to face a violent, chaotic race to reach fenced, militarized distribution sites,” the statement read.
A recent report by Israel’s Haaretz newspaper quoted unnamed Israeli soldiers as saying they had received orders to fire at Palestinian aid seekers to “disperse” them.
Before the Israeli regime and the US government forcefully changed the aid distribution system in Gaza, the aid distribution process was coordinated through various NGOs and UN-affiliated agencies, notably the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which had 13,000 staff in the enclave before the war.
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system, the entire population of Gaza suffers from level 4 famine, which means a significant portion of the population is experiencing an extreme lack of basic needs, including food, fuel, medical supplies, and water leading to death, destitution, and starvation.
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