Doctors Without Borders issued a scathing statement about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-funded aid agency that Israel allows to distribute some aid to Palestinians in the Strip.
“An analysis of DWB medical data, patient testimonies, and firsthand medical witnessing at the two clinics point to both targeted and indiscriminate violence by Israeli forces and private American contractors against starved Palestinians at food distribution sites run by the so-called GHF,” the aid agency’s report explained. “These are sites of orchestrated killing and dehumanization.”
DWB says it treated over 1,000 people at two clinics near GHF aid distribution sites and received the bodies of 28 murdered Palestinians. Scores of the victims were children, including 25 kids under the age of 15 who were shot.
The report concluded that the IDF and American contractors were engaged in systematic violence against civilians, and that the killing of children was intentional. “In DWB’s nearly 54 years of operation, rarely have we seen such levels of systematic violence against unarmed civilians,” said one DWB official.
A second explained, “There is no way to describe the murder of children as anything but intentional. Despite the condemnations and calls for dismantling it, the global inaction to stop GHF is baffling.”
In March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu broke the hostage exchange and ceasefire deal with Hamas by imposing a complete blockade of Gaza that prevented all aid from entering the Strip.
At the end of May, Tel Aviv began allowing small quantities of food to enter Gaza for distribution by the GHF. Israel is still preventing UN aid agencies from distributing aid.
The GHF operates only four aid sites in Gaza, which distribute food for just a few minutes a day. Retired US Green Beret Tony Augilar, who worked for a contract to provide security at GHF sites, has told several media outlets that Palestinians are forced to walk through an active war zone to reach the GHF sites.
Over 1,400 Palestinians have been killed while attempting to reach or receive food at GHF sites.
DWB labeled the aid distribution system as designed to strip “people of their dignity,” and called for the GHF to be dismantled. “MSF calls for the immediate dismantling of the GHF scheme; the restoration of the UN-coordinated aid delivery mechanism.” The statement adds, “As the occupying power, Israeli authorities are responsible for ensuring the rapid, unimpeded, and safe delivery of humanitarian aid at the level sufficient to address people’s needs.”
