More than 170 non-governmental organizations have risen in opposition to the system of distributing aid supplies through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a company associated with Israel and the United States, expressing concerns about this method. As the Israeli aggression aimed at ethnically cleansing Gaza’s population, which began on October 7, 2023, approaches its second year, a ceasefire agreement established earlier this year between the ruling Hamas group in Gaza and Israel briefly halted the exchange of attacks. However, it didn’t take long for Israel to violate the agreement and resume attacks on Gaza. They also restricted any aid from entering Gaza for about three months. Since May 19, Israel has allowed a limited amount of aid to enter Gaza, but to maintain control over aid distribution, they have entrusted this task to a company affiliated with their biggest supporter, the United States.
The company operating under the name Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been distributing aid supplies through centers established in various areas of Gaza. While over 56,000 people have been martyred in Gaza due to Israeli aggression, more than 500 people have been killed near aid distribution centers since GHF began operations in Gaza on May 26. GHF uses American private security and logistics companies to bring aid supplies into Gaza. This system has almost completely halted the aid distribution mechanism previously led by the UN. The US wants the UN to participate in aid distribution in Gaza alongside GHF. However, the UN has refused to do so. The UN does not consider GHF to be an independent and impartial foundation. The UN has accused the GHF aid distribution system of weaponizing humanitarian aid and forcing Gaza’s residents to leave their residential areas for other regions.
This week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres also stated that the current system of aid distribution in Gaza is not safe and that many people are being killed under this system. He said that any activity that concentrates desperate people in areas where military forces are operating is inherently unsafe and is resulting in deaths. In a statement signed by 171 organizations opposing the GHF-mediated aid distribution system, countries have been called upon to pressure Israel to stop distributing aid through this system. They have also called for the restoration of the UN-mediated aid distribution system.
The statement said that the Palestinian people are left with two options, both of which are undesirable choices. The first option for Gaza’s residents is to starve to death, and the second is to be martyred while trying to obtain food to save themselves and their families from starvation. The organizations that signed the statement include Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, Norwegian Refugee Council, and Amnesty International. Doctors Without Borders said that in the past month, 22 martyred individuals and 548 injured people were brought to their two small health centers in Gaza. They noted that the bodies of the martyred had bullet wounds, and the nature of these wounds confirms that they were the result of deliberate attacks.
Save the Children has highlighted that children account for 50 percent of those martyred in incidents near aid distribution centers. Rachel Cummings, the organization’s Director of Humanitarian Work, said that some children they spoke to express a desire to be martyred and to join their parents who have already been martyred. She also noted that due to lack of food, these children wish to obtain it from paradise. On June 30, Israel admitted to harming Gaza’s residents in areas where aid distribution centers are located. After martyring a large number of people, Israel claimed they have now learned a lesson from this incident.
