Israel-US aid system turned Gaza into ‘human abattoir’, former UN spokesperson says
The Israeli-US aid operation has turned Gaza into a “human abattoir”, or slaughterhouse, former UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness has said, in a reference to distribution sites operated by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
“Hundreds of civilians are herded like animals into fenced-off pens and are slaughtered like cattle in the process,” Gunness told Al Jazeera.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announced a full day’s closure on Wednesday, saying that operations would resume after the completion of maintenance and repair work on its distribution sites. It comes after Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians seeking aid, killing at least 27 people and injuring about 90, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. The closure has extended into today.
The former UN official cast doubt on the reason for the suspension, saying its work had been halted “because it has rightly sparked international outrage and condemnation”.
Asked about the UN Security Council resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza that was shot down on Wednesday, Gunness said Washington’s veto showed “the complete isolation of Israel and America – not just from the rest of the Security Council, but from the rest of humanity”.
“The international community must impose economic and military sanctions immediately,” he added.
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it will reopen two aid distribution centres
The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has said it will reopen two aid distribution centres today, Reuters has reported. The organisation on Wednesday said it suspended operations due to maintenance and repair work. It did not say when aid distribution would resume.
The group has been fiercely criticised by humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations, as hundreds of Palestinians were killed and wounded while seeking aid at its distribution points.
Palestinians gather to collect what remains of relief supplies from the distribution centre of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip
MSF staff protest in Geneva over Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
About 100 MSF staff have protested against the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and its deadly delivery scheme, which has been widely condemned by aid groups.
“People need the basics of life … they also need it in dignity,” MSF Switzerland’s director general, Stephen Cornish, told the Reuters news agency at the protest.
“If you’re fearing for your life, running with packages being mowed down, this is just something that is completely beyond everything we’ve ever seen,” he said. “These attacks have killed dozens … They were left to bleed out on the ground.”
He added that MSF staff in Gaza have had to give blood to help the wounded, with most Palestinians too malnourished to donate.
Staffs of MSF are seen carrying placards as they stage a demonstration against the militarisation of supplies of humanitarian aid in the Gaza strip in Geneva, Switzerland
Neutral Switzerland is fully complicit in the genocide with a GHF branch registered in Geneva. No further news on whether Switzerland is launching an investigation into GHF or not.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/switzerland-says-geneva-branch-of-us-backed-gaza-aid-group-inactive-noncompliant/3588851
"We are shocked by the silence, passivity, and discretion of the FDFA and Switzerland,” the signatories wrote. “Switzerland must emerge from its unacceptable discretion and act."
