Aid to Gaza by air and sea is unlikely to replace land routes
The United Nations human rights office has documented more than 20 attacks since January on Gazans waiting for desperately needed aid. as hunger spreads as a result of Israel’s near-complete siege, which prevented most food and water from entering the small enclave.
The agency did not blame any party for the wave of attacks as people wait for help. In a number of UN reports and statements, the agency has documented at least 26 such attacks since mid-January.
They include Thursday evening attack about hundreds of Palestinians waiting at the Kuwait roundabout in Gaza City for an expected convoy of aid trucks. Health officials in Gaza accused Israeli forces of carrying out a “targeted” attack on the crowd that killed 20 people, and three witnesses described shelling at the scene.
The Israeli military blamed Palestinian gunmen for the bloodshed and said it continued to review the episode. It said an “intensive preliminary investigation” had found that no “tank fire, airstrike or gunfire had been carried out against Gaza civilians on the aid convoy,” although it did not say whether its forces had opened fire at all.
According to the United Nations, it was at least the 10th incident in March in which people were shot or injured while waiting for help at the roundabouts in Kuwait or Nabulsi. They are the two main southern entrances to Gaza City, where the few humanitarian aid trucks entering northern Gaza from the south arrive.
The deadliest incident left more than a hundred Palestinians dead and many more injured as Israeli forces opened up firework around a convoy in Gaza City in late February. Witnesses said Israeli forces opened up firework towards Palestinians who rushed forward towards aid trucks.
The Israeli army said its forces opened fire “when a mob moved in a way that endangered them.” It is said that most people died in a stampede and some were run over by trucks.
Aid agencies, including the United Nations, have said that instead of helping to facilitate humanitarian aid, Israel has blocked aid going both to the Gaza Strip and to the north, where the hunger situation has become dire.
“Israel’s choices in methods and means of warfare have caused a humanitarian catastrophe,” the UN agency said in a report this month. “Such choices include imposing a siege on Gaza, other restrictions on humanitarian aid and the distribution of commercial goods, massive destruction of civilian infrastructure, including roads essential for access to the population, and restrictions on freedom of movement between the north and south of Gaza. .”
Israel, which imposed a siege after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, has said throughout the war that it was committed to allowing as much aid as possible into Gaza. It has blamed the delays on UN personnel and logistics.
In a statement on Friday, the United Nations human rights office called on Israel to ensure food and medical care was provided to meet Gaza’s needs. Aid groups have said that in addition to Israeli restrictions on aid convoys, looting by hungry Palestinians and increasing lawlessness have made it difficult, if not impossible, to distribute aid.
If Israel cannot provide assistance, it “has an obligation to facilitate humanitarian assistance activities, including by ensuring the security conditions necessary for such activities,” the human rights office said.
In February, a quarter of planned UN aid missions were facilitated by Israeli authorities, the UN Office for Humanitarian Coordination said.
UN officials and other aid groups have warned that Gaza is approaching famine due to inadequate food supplies. At least 27 people, including 23 children, have died from malnutrition, dehydration and lack of baby food, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.