According to the Gaza Strip’s Ministry of Health, at least 583 Palestinians have died and 4, 186 have been injured while waiting for food at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)-run aid distribution centers since May 27.
As famine looms over the besieged enclave, the killings continue every day. International organizations have for weeks been warning Gaza’s 2.1 million residents that have a severe food shortage, lack clean water, and irregular and dangerous aid deliveries.
More than 100 people were killed by Israeli forces during the GHF’s operation’s first eight days.
Hani Mahmoud, a journalist for Al Jazeera from Gaza City, claimed that Israel is still putting sever restrictions on the movement of supplies between the Gaza Strip and the GHF as the only food source there is.
According to Mahmoud, “many people here are trying to stay away from the GHF’s centers because of the risk associated with going there because there are deliberate and ongoing shootings of aid seekers there.” Staying away, however, is not a solution because it means that children will go to bed hungry if there are no food packages.
Where are the locations where donations are distributed?
The GHF, which is run by armed private security contractors employed by a US company, has only four “mega-sites”: three in the south and one in central Gaza, none of which are located in the north, where the conditions are most severe. The previous United Nations-led distribution network operated about 400 sites across the Strip.
GHF centers have irregular opening times, some of which are only for an hour. A Facebook page announced its opening in one instance, but eight minutes later it revealed supplies had run out.
The centers’ first-come, first-served nature frequently causes chaos as enraged crowds compete for scarce resources.
How are these aid distribution websites accessible?
It’s dangerous to get to these centers. Palestinians sometimes have to carry heavy food back to their families through densely populated combat zones, navigate biometric checkpoints, and cross long distances to combat sites.
The elderly, injured, and disabled people who are the least likely to travel are also excluded from the system’s intended beneficiaries, which is in effect the elderly.
What are the boxes made of?
The aid boxes themselves hardly ever meet one’s basic needs. Israel has a daily calorie intake of 1,600 while the World Food Programme recommends 2,100, or 1,600.
GHF packages contain no clean water, medicine, blankets, or fuel, and only offer slightly more calories (roughly 1, 750 calories). Receiving a box is a rare, unexpected occurrence for many rather than relief.
According to Al Jazeera correspondent Hind al-Khoudary, the rations don’t help families for long.
A typical GHF box, according to her description, contains 4 kg (8.8 kg) of flour, two cans of fava beans, two packs of tea bags, and a few biscuits. Lentils and small amounts of soup mix are included in some packages, but the quantity is sparse.
Are aid workers being shot on purpose?
Unnamed Israeli soldiers were cited by Israel’s Haaretz newspaper as saying that troops were instructed to fire at Palestinians’ crowds and use unnecessary lethal force against those who appeared to be unaffected.
One soldier told Haaretz, “We threw grenades and fired machineguns from tanks.” A group of civilians were hit while moving under the cover of fog once, according to one incident.
Another soldier claimed that in the area of Gaza where the soldier is stationed, “one to five people were killed every day.”
That soldier said, “It’s a killing field.”
The GHF is what?
About 500 trucks bringing humanitarian aid into Gaza each day before the war started on October 7, 2023. When Israel began to invade the enclave, that changed. During a nearly three-month supply-blockade, Israel temporarily stopped aid deliveries after a day-long decline of fewer than 80 trucks.
A new delivery method, distinct from the traditional UN framework, was introduced on May 27 when the GHF took over the aid operations as a private contractor.
The New York Times newspaper called the organization, which was established this year in the US, “an Israeli brainchild” as part of Israel’s long-term plan for Gaza’s future.
The GHF hasn’t made its funding sources known to the general public. Although the details are still ambiguous, it claimed to have secured $100 million in commitments. Recently, the US Department of State made a $30 million pledge to support.
How are the children of Gaza affected?
UNICEF has issued an “alarming rate” warning that children are still receiving little nutrition in Gaza.
At least 5, 119 children between the ages of six months and five years old were admitted to hospitals for acute malnutrition in May alone, a nearly 50% increase over the previous month’s April intake and a 15% increase over the February intake, which was facilitated by a temporary ceasefire.
16, 736 children, or an average of 112 per day, have been admitted for treatment since the start of the year until the end of May, according to Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“Everyone of these situations can be avoided. They are being prevented from receiving the food, water, and nutrition they desperately need. He continued, “These are human-made choices that are killing lives.”
Children were among the more than half of the 19 documented fatalities involving the distribution of food aid, which highlights the fragility of Gaza’s youngest residents.
How does Israel threaten Gaza’s population with starvation?
Israel’s aid embargo has caused hunger for one in five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The colossal scale of hunger that grips Gaza is highlighted by the chaos at the distribution points for aid.
1.95 million people in the enclave are experiencing acute food shortages, according to the most recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report.
Northern Gaza is one of the governorates where hunger is more severe.
The IPC claimed that Israel’s continued blockade “would likely lead to further mass displacement within and across governorates” because resources that are crucial to people’s survival would be lacking.
Source: Aljazeera
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