Siege of Gaza: MSF denounces new aid mechanism proposed by US and Israel

The plan—centered around the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation—seeks to bypass UN-led coordination and place aid delivery under direct Israeli control, effectively forcing a militarized system on humanitarian organizations, donors, and civilians, said MSF.

Rather than facilitate access, the plan threatens to further institutionalize obstruction, instrumentalize aid, and entrench the Israeli occupation. By conditioning lifesaving assistance on displacement and compliance with Israeli screening, the plan violates humanitarian principles. Making aid conditional on forced displacement and vetting of the population would be another tool in the ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population. MSF firmly rejects and condemns this plan of full control over who receives aid. We  cannot accept a system which subjugates humanitarian aid to military and occupation objectives.

We are witnessing, in real time, the creation of conditions for the eradication of Palestinian lives in Gaza, said MSF.

The obstruction of humanitarian aid is a direct violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2720, which calls for the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians. Claims that aid is being diverted by Hamas remain unverified and in no way justify such measures. As the occupying power, Israel must facilitate impartial humanitarian assistance for the population in need.

“The United States, the UN, EU member states, and all those with influence over Israel must urgently use their political and economic leverage to stop the instrumentalization of aid,” said Avril Benoît, CEO of MSF in the United States. “Humanitarian supplies, food, fuel, and medicines must be allowed to reach the people of Gaza now. Humanitarian aid must reach all the people who desperately need it.”

Since Israel’s resumption of attacks and its total blockade of aid launched on March 2, Gaza has become hell on earth for Palestinians. The survival of Palestinians lies at the mercy of Israeli authorities, who are denying the entire population access to food, water, medical care, and shelter. Israel continues to pursue its campaign of ethnic cleansing by deliberately destroying the conditions necessary for life.

Organizations including World Central Kitchen and the World Food Programme (WFP) have announced that they have no more food stocks available in Gaza. Most community kitchens and bakeries have closed. MSF medical teams in Gaza City have seen a 32 percent increase in the number of patients presenting with malnutrition over the past two weeks.

Dwindling fuel stocks are limiting the ability to desalinate and distribute water. The health facilities that are still functioning—already critically inadequate in number and capacity for the population—are still being attacked and are suffering from rapidly diminishing stocks of medications and other essential supplies. MSF teams in Gaza have not been able to receive any supplies for 11 weeks and face critical shortages of essential medical items such as sterile compresses and sterile gloves.

Israel’s evacuation orders and established no-go military zones now cover 70 percent of Gaza. The population has been forcibly transferred from one place to another, while not a single area of Gaza has been spared from attacks. The desperateness of the situation is such that MSF teams have treated and discharged patients only to see them return with new injuries.

Israel’s plan to instrumentalize aid is a cynical response to the very humanitarian crisis they created. If they wished, Israel and its allies could lift the blockade today and let humanitarian aid reach all those in Gaza whose survival depends on it.