More than 100 aid groups, including Oxfam and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), have urged Israel to end what they call the “weaponization of aid” in Gaza, saying tighter regulations have blocked lifesaving supplies as “starvation deepens.”
In a joint letter, the organizations said they were being denied permission to deliver aid unless they complied with rules introduced in March. These require detailed information on Palestinian staff and ban groups deemed to “delegitimize” Israel.
Most major international NGOs have not delivered a single truckload since March 2, the letter said, with more than 60 requests denied in July. The restrictions have left hospitals without basic supplies and vulnerable people dying from hunger and preventable diseases, the statement added.
Sean Carroll, head of American Near East Refugee Aid, said $7 million in aid, including 744 tons of rice, was sitting blocked in Ashdod, just kilometers from Gaza. Oxfam’s policy lead Bushra Khalidi said $2.5 million in goods had been rejected.
Israel denies imposing restrictions, saying delays occur only when groups refuse to meet “basic security requirements” to prevent Hamas from seizing aid. Cogat, the Israeli military body overseeing deliveries, said nearly 20 registered organizations were sending about 300 trucks daily, though the UN estimates Gaza needs 600.
Israel’s Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli said groups with no ties to hostile activity or the boycott movement would be approved. He accused some NGOs of serving as a “cover for violent actions.”
MSF’s Gaza emergency coordinator, Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, called the current food distribution “militarized” and accused Israel of weaponizing starvation. MSF’s secretary-general Chris Lockyear described the situation as “hanging on by a thread,” calling the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation a “death trap.”
Hamas’s 2023 attack killed about 1,200 people in Israel, with 251 taken hostage. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says nearly 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, including 235 deaths from starvation and malnutrition.
(jh)
Source: Polskie Radio 24, BBC