Desk Report,
Israel says it is providing aid to Gaza, so why are Palestinians starving?
The Gaza Health Ministry said 127 people have died in the enclave so far due to the Israeli blockade, 85 of them children. The deaths were due to hunger and malnutrition.
Israel says it is providing aid to Gaza, so why are Palestinians starving?
In March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut off all aid to Gaza, saying it would increase pressure on Hamas to accept a ceasefire. But later that month, Israel unilaterally broke the ceasefire.
This week, the Israeli government blamed the United Nations for the situation in Gaza. It even accused Hamas of blocking UN aid agencies from reaching the people. However, this is not the first time that Israel has blocked aid from entering Gaza. In March 2024, Israel blocked a UN aid convoy from entering Gaza. At that time, their aim was to starve people and force them to flee the area. Then in September, 15 international aid agencies said that Israel was blocking 83 percent of the aid to Gaza.
Israel has claimed twice that it did not block aid. It has blamed the UN’s incompetence and Hamas for the reason that aid is not reaching Gaza. However, Israel has long claimed that the areas where aid is not reaching are areas under its control.
So what has Israel said? Are they admitting that a man-made famine is taking place in Gaza? —Let’s find the answers to these questions.
Is aid not reaching Gaza now
After the famine situation in Gaza arose, Israel faced a lot of international criticism. Then in May, with the help of the United States, they launched a new aid mechanism called the GHF. The main purpose of launching this GHF was to replace the UN and other aid organizations.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition government has so far not paid any attention to international opposition or domestic anger. They have directly dismissed allegations of war crimes and violations of international law in Gaza. They have called the allegations “anti-Semitic” and “false accusations.”
There used to be about 400 aid distribution centers in Gaza. Now, the GHF runs only four. They are located only in central and southern Gaza. And even they are not regularly operated.
Since May, Israeli forces and some foreign contractors have killed more than a thousand people who came to collect food near these centers.
The United Nations is still carrying out limited aid distribution operations. But it has to operate under such severe restrictions that its effectiveness is not felt.
Is Israel admitting that people are starving in Gaza?
No, Israel is not admitting that.
COGAT, the organization that coordinates the Israeli government’s activities in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, said, “There is no famine in the Gaza Strip.” However, it also said that there were problems with food supply in some parts of Gaza.
Israel says it is providing enough aid to Gaza
That is not the case. Israel claims that much of the aid is being wasted in the sun because the UN is not distributing it properly.
A recent report by Israel’s military radio Kan said that the Israeli army has burned or buried about 1,000 trucks of aid because it was damaged or expired.
David Mensah, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office, told the BBC on Friday that “the UN is embezzling billions of dollars in Gaza.” He alleged that the UN is deliberately colluding with Hamas to prevent the people of Gaza from receiving aid.
However, Mensah did not present any evidence to support this allegation. And he did not explain why the UN would do this. Speaking to the UN Security Council last Wednesday, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon alleged that UN relief chief Tom Fletcher and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) were somehow involved with Hamas. However, Danon did not provide any evidence to support his accusation.
In a written response the next day, Tom Fletcher said, “If the Israeli government has any such evidence, they should present it to us immediately.”
Earlier, in January 2024, Israel accused the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) of working with Hamas.
An independent investigation was conducted into Israel’s accusation. In April 2024, the independent investigation report said that Israel could not provide any evidence to support the accusation.
