As the Israeli military continues to bomb the enclave with the alleged goal of capturing all of Gaza, a controversial aid organization funded by Israel and supported by the United States announced that it has begun operations in southern Gaza.
According to the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 180, 000 people were displaced in Gaza between May 15 and May 25.
After announcing its first distribution hubs in southern Gaza, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which bypasses aid distribution networks established by the UN and charities, announced it had distributed boxes of food to Palestinians on Tuesday.
Concerned that the plan could be used to “weaponize” aid, causing further displacement of Palestinians, the UN and international aid organizations have stated that they will not cooperate with the Swiss-registered company, which is dispensing aid under the protection of armed security contractors.
UN Humanitarian Office spokesperson Jens Laerke said the deliveries were “a diversion from what is actually needed,” instead calling for more Israeli approval for emergency supplies that are waiting to be let in just outside Gaza’s borders.
Despite executive director Jake Wood’s resignation on Sunday, who claimed it couldn’t adhere to “humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence,” the GHF continued to carry out its mission.
According to aid officials cited by the Reuters news agency, the new operation will rely on four main distribution centers in southern Gaza to screen families for involvement with the Palestinian group Hamas, possibly using biometric or facial recognition technology.
However, many details about how the operation will proceed remain unclear, not the least of which is how Palestinians who are spread out across central and northern Gaza, many of whom are ill and deficient, will have to travel far to receive the aid.
According to Tareq Abu Azzoum, an Al Jazeera correspondent from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, “only those who move south will receive aid.” People will have to travel long distances under “very dangerous security conditions” to get packages that will suffice for a few days before having to go back home.
According to Abu Azzoum, “many Palestinians are concerned about the use of aid as a political tool… to control the movement of Gaza’s population,” the association’s ties to the Israeli government “were incredibly concerning.”
The Gaza-based Ministry of Health reported that more than 54 000 people died as the GHF operation began on Tuesday.
Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Union, described Israel’s deadly wave of attacks on civilian targets as “abhorrent.”
Her remarks came after Israel bombed a school in Gaza City the day before, killing 36 people, most of them children and women.
“Aid washing”
Israel’s situation in Gaza, where 2.1 million people are constantly under attack and are facing a looming famine, was the subject of the GHF announcement as it faced international condemnation.
Chris Gunness, a former UNRWA spokesman, called the new initiative “aid washing.”
Gunness told Al Jazeera, “It’s quite simply the use of humanitarian aid to justify both the weaponization of humanitarian aid and the justification of ethnic cleansing and genocide.”
He also raised questions about the use of security contractors to oversee the operation, claiming that the “subcontracting of aid to mercenaries” could result in a disaster similar to the “flour massacre” from the previous year, when at least 112 people were killed while waiting for food in Gaza City.
If Israel doesn’t “cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid,” France, the UK, and Canada have pledged to take “concrete actions.” Germany joined them this week, which argued that the humanitarian impact of Israel’s offensive “can no longer be justified as a fight against terrorism.”
Germany and Finland demanded on Israel on Tuesday that it “put pressure” on it to allow Gaza desperately needed humanitarian aid. Ulf Kristersson, the prime minister of Sweden, previously argued that Israel should be subject to sanctions from the EU.
Gaza should not be denied aid, according to Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who defied international critics on Tuesday.
I tell the prime minister, “We must not provide them with humanitarian aid,” ” Dear Prime Minister, I say that.” Our enemies only deserve a bullet to the head, he told a sizable crowd of people marching in occupied East Jerusalem as he argued, “We must not give them fuel.”
Houthi missiles are intercepted by Israel
Houthi rebels have regularly launched attacks in self-declared solidarity with Palestinians who are under attack in Gaza, according to the Israeli military, which was reported on Tuesday.
Since the Houthis began the conflict in October 2023, they have launched missiles and drones at Israel. They halted their attacks after the two-month ceasefire in Gaza, which ended in March, but they resumed them once Israel resumed its occupation of the area.
A missile launched by the group in early May hit the Ben Gurion airport’s perimeter for the first time near Tel Aviv despite the group’s majority of the projectile interceptions.
Source: Aljazeera
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