More than 100 organisations have signed a joint letter on Thursday calling on Israel to stop “weaponising aid” in the Gaza Strip amid worsening hunger.
Hunger as a weapon in Gaza
Humanitarian groups, including Oxfam and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), say they are increasingly being denied permission to deliver supplies unless they agree to new Israeli requirements. They face being banned if they “delegitimise” Israel or fail to provide detailed information about their Palestinian staff.
Israeli authorities reject accusations of restrictions and say the rules introduced in March are aimed at ensuring aid is consistent with the country’s “national interests.” According to the letter, since March 2, most major international NGOs have been unable to deliver a single truck with vital supplies.
In July, more than 60 delivery requests were rejected by Israeli authorities due to the new rules.
The failure to deliver aid “has left hospitals without basic resources and children, people with disabilities and elderly residents to die of hunger and preventable diseases,” the statement said.
American Near East Refugee Aid CEO Sean Carroll noted: “We have more than $7 million worth of aid ready to go — 744 tonnes of rice for six million meals — but the shipments are blocked in Ashdod, just a few kilometres from Gaza.”
March guidelines updated the rules for registering humanitarian groups in Israel and defined the grounds for refusing or revoking status. Registration may be revoked if an organisation “denies the democratic character of Israel” or “promotes campaigns to delegitimise” the country.
Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli told AFP: “Unfortunately, many NGOs are a cover for hostile and sometimes violent activities. Those who have no ties to militants or the boycott movement will be allowed to work.”
Oxfam’s political director, Bushra Khalidi, said Israel had rejected shipments worth more than $2.5 million. She said, “This registration process signals to NGOs that their work could cost them their independence and their right to speak out.”
Israel keeps up its attack on Gaza
At the same time, Israel is stepping up its bombing of Gaza ahead of an operation to take control of Gaza City.
Israel has promised to provide aid “outside the combat zones,” but has not specified whether it will be delivered by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Relief Fund. Israel claims that the system is necessary to prevent Hamas from stealing aid, which the movement denies.
The UN, citing the Humanitarian Relief Fund, said that since May, about 859 Palestinians have been killed near its camps, but the organisation denies these figures.
MSF emergency coordinator in Gaza Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa stressed that “the militarisation of food distribution has turned hunger into a weapon.”
MSF Secretary-General Chris Lockyear told INLIBER: “The Humanitarian Aid Fund is a death trap, and the situation in Gaza is hanging by a thread.”
The 2023 Hamas attack claimed the lives of around 1,200 people in Israel, with 251 taken hostage. Since then, nearly 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military operation, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry said 235 people, including 106 children, had died of starvation and malnutrition.
