Desk Report,
Gaza aid distribution center turns into Israeli death mill
When a famine strikes a community, it reflects not only hunger but also the breakdown of society. People scavenge for food from garbage dumps. Some cook in secret; some hide food from relatives; some families sell their grandmother’s jewelry for food.
Gaza aid distribution center turns into Israeli death mill
The faces of the starving are emotionless. Their eyes are blank. People fight for food like animals. This is the ultimate form of social degradation and humiliation. This is the erosion of human dignity. This is what Gazans are going through today.
A new organization called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF (which launched in May with the support of the United States and Israel) bills itself as a modern and compassionate organization for the 21st century. It says it distributes more than two million food packets a day from its four “safe distribution centers.” The picture shows UN workers handing out food to children. What we are seeing in Gaza is not just hunger, but the systematic destruction of a society. The Israeli government is not at all concerned about whether Palestinians will live or die. They only want to avoid accusations of genocide and famine. And the GHF is now being used as a cover. Let us understand the efforts of Israel and the United States to throw dust in their eyes.
Israeli spokespeople say that UN trucks are inside Gaza’s borders, but that the UN is not deliberately distributing food. But this statement collapses on a very simple analysis.
First, the numbers do not match. Last April, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that after 18 months of blockade and war and two months of full Israeli blockade, the amount of food needed to save life in Gaza will drop to less than half between May and July. This means that the entire food needs of all Gazans must be met through this relief operation. But two million packets of food per day are not even half of what Gaza needs. Second, the famine does not end simply by providing food in large quantities; it hits the most vulnerable people. According to UN rules, when 20 percent of families are severely food insecure, it can be called a ‘famine’. In this situation, women, especially those without husbands and those with many children or elderly parents, are the most at risk. The real task is to reach these families in a specific way.
GHF runs four distribution centers in Gaza—three in the rubble of Rafah, one in the middle of Gaza. All of them are in military areas. They open for a very short time and with very little notice before the food distribution. People camp in the rubble, waiting for the doors to open. They know that Israeli soldiers will not hesitate to fire to control the crowds. How will the weak mothers, the elderly, or the disabled who cannot participate in the race get food? Third, relief needs to be provided according to the real needs of the people. For example, malnourished children need special foods (such as ‘plumpinat’, which is made for children who cannot eat regular food). But the GHF box contains flour, pasta, oil, rice, lentils, tahini (a special kind of butter made from sesame seeds). There is no baby food or plumpinat in the GHF relief. There are also no trained nurses or nutritionists who can serve malnourished children.
What we are seeing in Gaza is not just hunger, but a process of planned destruction of a society. The Israeli government is not at all concerned about whether Palestinians will live or die. They only want to avoid accusations of genocide and famine. And the GHF is now being used as a cover. Let us understand the efforts of Israel and the United States to throw dust in our eyes.
● Alex de Waal is the executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University in Massachusetts, USA.
