Summary
- UN rapporteurs call to dismantle Gaza Humanitarian
Foundation.
- Say aid exploited for military and geopolitical
agendas.
- Highlight involvement of Israeli intelligence and US
contractors.
- Cite over 1,300 Palestinians killed seeking aid near
GHF sites.
- Urge international oversight and return to UN-managed
aid.
An exceptionally-large number of the UN-mandated
experts highlighted grave concerns regarding the GHF’s operations.
As Israel eased a more than two-month assistance blockade on the Palestinian territory that had made shortages worse, the private organization started delivering food in the Gaza Strip in May.
“The GHF ... is an utterly disturbing example of how humanitarian relief can be exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law,”
the experts said in a joint statement.
“The entanglement of Israeli intelligence, US contractors and ambiguous non-governmental entities underlines the urgent need for robust international oversight and action under UN auspices.
Calling it ‘humanitarian’ adds on to Israel’s humanitarian camouflage and is an insult to the humanitarian enterprise and standards.”
On July 22, the UN rights office said Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid in Gaza since the GHF started operations -- nearly three-quarters of them in the vicinity of GHF sites.
“Without clear accountability, the very idea of humanitarian relief may ultimately become a casualty of modern hybrid warfare,”
the special rapporteurs said.
“The credibility and effectiveness of humanitarian assistance must be restored by dismantling the GHF, holding it and its executives accountable, and allowing experienced and humanitarian actors from the UN and civil society alike to take back the reins of managing and distributing lifesaving aid.”
The UN's special rapporteur on the rights
situation in the 1967-occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese,
signed the joint statement.
She has an "obsessive, hate-driven agenda
to delegitimize the state of Israel," according to Israel.
A remarkably high number of people, including 18
other special rapporteurs, UN experts, and members of UN working groups, signed
the statement as well.
The UN Human Rights Council requires independent
experts known as special rapporteurs to report on their findings. As such, they
are not the official representatives of the United Nations.
The Gaza Strip is home to more than two million
people.
GHF says it has distributed more than 1.76 million boxes of foodstuffs to date.
“We continue to improve our operations,”
GHF executive director John Acree said Monday.
“We urge the international humanitarian community to join us -- we have the scale and capacity to deliver more aid to the people of Gaza.”
What impact does the foundation have on the Gaza humanitarian crisis and peace efforts?
It has reduced aid distribution points from over
400 local sites to just four militarized, Israeli-controlled locations. This
centralization forces nearly two million people into overcrowded areas under
constant threat of gunfire, creating deadly risks for civilians trying to
access food and supplies.
Since the Israeli government imposed a
near-total blockade favoring the GHF system, the humanitarian conditions have
worsened dramatically, with over 500 Palestinians killed and nearly 4,000
injured while seeking aid in a short span of weeks.
The GHF's approach excludes many other
humanitarian aid organizations and hampers coordinated, large-scale relief
operations, worsening starvation, malnutrition, and lack of medical care.