Gaza
\nMore than 130 charities and other NGOs are calling for the controversial Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to be shut down.
\nOver 500 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid since the GHF started operating in late May, following Israel\u2019s three-month blockade of Gaza, the organisations said. Almost 4,000 have been injured.
\nThe organisations, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Amnesty, say Israeli forces and armed groups \u201croutinely\u201d open fire on Palestinians seeking aid.
\nIsrael denies its soldiers deliberately shoot at aid recipients, and has defended the GHF system, saying it provides direct assistance to people who need it, bypassing Hamas interference.
\nTuesday\u2019s joint statement from some of the world\u2019s biggest charities says the foundation is violating all norms of humanitarian work, including by forcing two million people into overcrowded and militarized zones where they face daily gunfire.
\nSince the GHF started operating in Gaza, there have been almost daily reports of Israeli forces killing people seeking aid at these sites, from medics, eyewitnesses and the Hamas-run health ministry.
\nThe GHF aid distribution system replaced 400 aid distribution points that were operating during the temporary Israel-Hamas ceasefire with just four military-controlled distribution sites, three in the far south-west of Gaza and one in central Gaza.
\n\u201cToday, Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families,\u201d the statement says.
\n\u201cOrphaned children and caregivers are among the dead, with children harmed in over half of the attacks on civilians at these sites.\u201d
\nThe GHF aid system has been condemned by UN agencies. On Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called it \u201cinherently unsafe\u201d.
\nFrom the start the UN condemned the plan, saying it would \u201cmilitarise\u201d aid, bypass the existing distribution network and force Gazans to make long journeys through dangerous territory to get food.
\nThe Israeli military has said it is examining reports of civilians being \u201charmed\u201d while approaching GHF aid distribution centres.
\nAccording to a report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Friday, unnamed Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers said they were ordered to shoot at unarmed civilians near aid distribution sites to drive them away or disperse them.
\nIsrael\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly rejected the report, calling the allegations \u201cmalicious falsehoods\u201d.
\nThe Israeli military also denied allegations of deliberately firing at Palestinians waiting to collect humanitarian aid.
\nIn a statement on Monday, the IDF said it was reorganising access to the sites and this would include new \u201cfencing\u201d and signposting, including directional and warning signs in order to improve the operational response.
\nBut the 130-plus aid organisations said GHF \u201cis not a humanitarian response\u201d for the Gazans.
\n\u201cAmidst severe hunger and famine-like conditions, many families tell us they are now too weak to compete for food rations,\u201d the groups said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gaza More than 130 charities and other NGOs are calling for the controversial Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to be shut down. Over 500 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid since the GHF started operating in late May, following Israel\u2019s three-month blockade of Gaza, the organisations said. Almost 4,000 have been injured. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-487871","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n