Gaza (Quds News Network)- Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has criticized the US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution mechanism in the Gaza Strip, amid reports of mass killings of starving civilians by Israeli forces. MSF said seeking food should not be a “death sentence.”
“Every day Palestinians are met with carnage in their attempts to receive supplies from the insufficient amount of aid trickling into Gaza,” MSF said on Tuesday in a statement.
“I saw people torn to pieces; it’s a disaster. Seeking food should not be a death sentence.” Dr. Wafaa Abu Nemer, MSF paediatrician.
“In this horrific situation, nothing can replace Nasser Hospital, the last remaining lifeline in the South. But the hospital is over-capacity and running on limited supplies, it is dangerously close to breaking point.” warned Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, MSF emergency coordinator.
At least 60 aid seekers were killed and 200 others injured near a recently established aid distribution site run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and on the main eastern road through Khan Younis in southern Gaa in the hope of getting food from aid trucks that use the route, when Israeli forces targeted them directly with shells and gunfire, marking one of Gaza’s deadliest days at aid distribution sites.
Gaza Civil Defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said, “Israeli drones fired at the citizens. Some minutes later, Israeli tanks fired several shells at the citizens, which led to a large number of martyrs and wounded,” noting that the crowd had assembled in the hope of receiving flour.
Survivors described horrific scenes.
“Tens of thousands of hungry civilians gathered for the aid. Two Israeli shells were dropped in the middle of the crowd. Dozens of civilians, including children, were killed, and no one could help or save lives,” survivor Saeed Abu Liba, 38, said in a video circulated on social media. “May God punish the Israelis for their crimes.”
Yousef Nofal, another witness, said he saw many people motionless and bleeding on the ground. “It was a massacre,” he said, adding Israeli soldiers continued firing on people as they fled the area.
Mohammed Abu Qeshfa said he heard a loud explosion followed by heavy gunfire and tank shelling. “I survived by a miracle,” he said.
Israel has repeatedly targeted starving aid seekers, especially those gathered at food distribution sites run by the GHF, killing more than 397 people and injuring over 3,000 since the foundation began operations on May 26, the Health Ministry reported on Tuesday.
On March 2, Israel announced the closure of Gaza’s main crossings, cutting off food, medical and humanitarian supplies, worsening a humanitarian crisis for 2.3 million Palestinians, according to reports by human rights organisations who have accused it of using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinains.
An Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report last month warned that almost a quarter of the civilian population would face catastrophic levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase Five) in the coming months.
After more than 80 days of total blockade, starvation, and growing international outrage, limited aid has allegedly been distributed by the GHF, a scandal-plagued organization backed by the US and Israel, created to bypass the UN’s established aid delivery infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
No other aid has been allowed in by Israel, which in effect has kept the blockade in place.
Most humanitarian organisations, including the UN, have distanced themselves from GHF, arguing that the group violates humanitarian principles by restricting aid to south and central Gaza, requiring Palestinians to walk long distances to collect aid, and only providing limited aid, among other critiques.
The UN confirmed that Israel is still blocking food from reaching starving Palestinians with only a few trucks of aid having reached Gaza.
Doctors Without Borders warned that “weaponizing aid in this manner may constitute crimes against humanity.”
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