Let Humanitarian Organisations Do Their Jobs in Gaza

Southern Gaza killings at US-Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution points prove that replacing impartial humanitarian aid is as ineffective as it is deadly.

- Christopher Lockyear

Deprived of food, water and medical aid, desperate Palestinians were penned in by fences, waiting to receive basic necessities for survival that were denied by Israel for nearly 90 days. Then chaos erupted. Shots were fired. Bloodshed.

More injury and death compounded weeks of hunger and 19 months of dehumanisation.

The recent disastrous distributions by the newly created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) confirmed that the US-Israel plan to instrumentalise aid is not only ineffective but clearly deadly.

On May 27, during the first distribution in Rafah, in southern Gaza, dozens of people were shot and injured as wholly insufficient amounts of basic supplies were distributed amid chaos.

Again, on June 1 and June 3, more people were killed during shootings at or near GHF aid distribution points in Rafah.

On June 2, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) medical teams treated several of the wounded at the overwhelmed Nasser Hospital—a medical compound already struck three times in the weeks preceding, as the Israeli forces’ ground offensive continued.

Through this dangerous and reckless approach, food is now not being distributed where it’s needed most but is instead directed only to areas where Israeli forces choose to amass civilians.