Israel Kills Palestinian Aid Seekers as Rights Groups Warn GHF of Legal Consequences
The Israeli military opened fire on hundreds of Palestinians waiting for aid trucks in central Gaza, killing at least 25 people.
Meanwhile, a group of international human rights organizations urged the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and other private groups running aid delivery in Gaza to halt their operations or face legal consequences.
Shooting Aid Seekers
Early on Tuesday, the Israeli troops and drones opened their fire on hundreds of people who were moving close towards the approaching aid trucks in central Gaza, the Associated Press (AP) reported citing Palestinian witnesses and hospitals.
The Awda Hospital in Nuseirat refugee camp received the victims. It said that the Palestinians were waiting for the aid trucks on the Salah al-Din Road south of Wadi Gaza when the Israeli fires targeted them.
The AP quoted witnesses who said that Israeli tanks and drones opened fire at people, killing and injuring many of them, even as they were attempting to escape the area. They described what happened as a “massacre” and a ‘chaotic and bloody” scene.
The Awda hospital said it received 146 wounded Palestinians, 62 of them in critical condition and was transferred to other hospitals. Meanwhile, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah said it received the bodies of 6 Palestinians who were killed in the same incident.
Israel’s war on Gaza has so far claimed the lives of 55,998 Palestinians and injured 131,559 others since October 7, 2023, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Targeting Aid Distribution Sites
In recent weeks, the Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire at Gazans heading to aid distribution sites run by the GHF, killing hundreds of Palestinians. The Israeli military says it had fired shots at people who did not adhere to designated access routes.
A week ago, the Israeli troops shot dead at least 51 people and injured over 200 near a GHF distribution site in Khan Younis. Furthermore, multiple shooting incidents took place in the vicinity of the GHF’s operations, where the Israeli military opened fire at Palestinians while they were trying to reach the aid distribution sites, prompting the organization to temporarily pause its operations several times.
A Call for Ceasing Operations
On Monday, a group of 15 international human rights organizations called on the US and Israeli- backed GHF and the affiliated Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions to halt their operations in the Gaza Strip or face legal consequences.
In a letter, the human rights groups voiced their concern over the GHF replacing the UN agencies in running aid delivery in Gaza in collaboration with the Israeli government and US private contractors. “This new model of privatized, militarized aid distribution constitutes a radical and dangerous shift away from established international humanitarian relief operations,” they said.
The rights advocates called on the GHF and affiliated contractors to cease their operations or face the risk of “criminal and civil liability for aiding and abetting or otherwise being complicit in crimes under international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide in violation of international law, US law and other relevant national laws under the principle of universal jurisdiction.”
The letter noted that since the GHF started operations three weeks ago, “hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured while seeking food at GHF sites.” It also warned that the “GHF’s militarized model, coupled with its close collaboration with Israeli authorities, undermines the core humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.”
The rights groups concluded their letter by urging “all parties involved – State actors, corporate entities, donors and individuals – to immediately suspend any action or support that facilitates the forcible displacement of civilians, contributes to starvation or other grave breaches of international law, or undermines the core principles of international humanitarian law.”
Controversy over GHF
The GHF runs a new aid delivery mechanism, involving the establishment of a number of distribution sites in southern and central Gaza, where Palestinians will head once a week to get one aid package per family. The GHF cooperates with private American contractors to secure aid trucks until their arrival at the distribution sites.
However, the GHF has faced mounting criticism from the UN and other humanitarian organizations, which refused to work with the organization amid fears that its distribution model will force the displacement of Palestinians.
After multiple shooting incidents took place near the GHF sites, the UN called for independent investigation. Moreover, the UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, slammed the organization’s aid delivery mechanism as “unacceptable” and “dehumanizing.”
