Gaza’s population is in desperate need, and going to a distribution point run by the infamous Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is the only way to ensure that they don’t risk dying.
The GHF aid distribution center’s satellite imagery, taken on July 13, has been analyzed by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency.
We follow people who are frightened and have been walking through a swarm of Israeli tanks, armored vehicles, and drones where they face imminent gunshot from Israeli soldiers.
What they must go through is as follows:
How does one enter the center?
It is not nearly as straightforward as simply “getting there.” People are permitted to travel with their own cars or carts to a specific location before having to disembark.
They would have to travel back that distance with whatever sacks or boxes of food they can get because this location is at least 1.5 kilometers (0. 9 miles) from the distribution center.
People arrive hours or even days before the center is distributed to ensure that they are given something. They stay put until they arrive, delaying any further because they don’t want to lose their spot, some people have already walked hours to the location.
What exactly is “al-Joura”?
People rush over a distance of about 560 meters (1, 800 feet) past an Israeli barrier to “al-Joura,” a sandy pit between dunes, where they seek shelter from Israeli bullets and wait for an unknown moment, to avoid waiting out in the open.
Families who arrive 12 to 24 hours early to wait for a “go signal” to get some food add to the physical hardship.
What occurs when there is a “go signal”?
Hearing the “go signal” (usually from hovering drones) typically allows people to approach the aid distribution point, which is still about 1 km (0. 6 miles) away.
However, frequently things don’t go as planned, and from here on in, the risk of getting shot is high.
The Israeli army has barriers and numerous military vehicles encircling the aid distribution point, along with military total control of Rafah.
Israeli drones, military installations, and sniper nests are just a few examples of how this control is reinforced by witnesses.
The Israeli military issues a signal to the displaced Palestinians that they are safe to visit the aid facility. Witness reports claim that people were shot at even as they waited for a “go signal” to enter the center, though.
Palestinian activists’ video from on July 14 showed Israeli fire at al-Joura attendees as they approached the distribution center.
34 people were waiting for food at the GHF site when Israeli forces carried out the attack on July 12.
So, are those who make it to the distribution center okay?
Not always, I suppose.
Palestinians are being pepper-sprayed by Israeli soldiers, but video has emerged of this in addition to the general maltreatment they are subject to.
What’s it like to receive aid in person?
The battle is not even close to over for those who enter the center’s doors.
Muhannad Qeshta, a journalist who was displaced from Rafah, spoke with Al Jazeera about the distribution of aid.
He described chaotic situations caused by poor coordination, a lack of organized distribution plans, and total lack of proper planning.
People enter the center, where tables have been arranged with aid packages arranged randomly. There are desperate people pushing and fighting to get as much food as they can manage.
Most people leave empty-handed because there is so much demand and limited supplies, with no order placed on the aid package recipients.
Those who do manage to get some food must travel back along the same path where hundreds or thousands of hungry people are still attempting to enter the aid center.
As desperate people try to steal food from each other’s arms, fighting has broken out.
Aid victims: who are they?
The Palestinian Ministry of Health updated its Telegram channel on Sunday with a press release regarding “aid victims.”
According to the ministry, 31 people died and more than 107 were injured when they arrived in hospitals over the past 24 hours. This resulted in a total of 5 861 “livelihood victim” deaths and 922 “livelihood victim” injuries.
At least 21 Palestinians were killed on July 16 in a stampede to get food for themselves.
One in five people in Gaza are currently starving as a result of the Israeli blockade on food and aid, according to a United Nations-backed assessment released in May, and 93 percent of the population is in severe food shortages.
Why is GHF considered “notorious”?
Israel proposed the GHF in response to international pressure to allow aid into Gaza and to undermine the already-established UN and international organizations there. It claimed that Hamas was in need of receiving aid from Gaza.
Israel did not provide any proof that fighters were diverted or given food or medical aid for a reason other than for their own good.
The GHF plan, according to the UN and other humanitarian organizations, violates fundamental human rights.
In May, UNHCR’s Tom Fletcher stated to the Security Council that the GHF “restricts aid to only one region of Gaza while leaving other urgent needs unmet.”
He claimed that GHF makes aid dependent on political and military objectives, makes starvation a “cynical sideshow” and provides a “fig leaf for further violence and displacement,” and that it also provides a “fig leaf for further violence and displacement.”
Source: Aljazeera
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