Gaza aid crisis: NGOs fear Israeli crackdown as mass starvation looms
Aid workers say the ‘worst point’ of Israel’s war on Gaza has come as Israel moves to take control of aid distribution in the enclave with the help of private American security contractors and facial recognition tools.
“What are our choices?” one aid worker said to Middle East Eye this week, reflecting on the dilemma now facing aid organisations trying to reach people in the besieged enclave and speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Watch people starve to death, or watch people starve to death but while a select few get fed?”
For the past two months, Israel has blocked food, water and electricity from entering Gaza, with experts warning that mass starvation is once again imminent.
Then, last week, representatives of Cogat, the Israeli military unit overseeing movement logistics between Gaza and Israel, presented United Nations officials with their detailed plan to take over - and restrict - aid distribution in Gaza.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
According to a memo of the 2 May meeting seen by MEE, private security contractors will run up to five ‘logistics hubs’ in southern Gaza from which aid will be distributed.
The aid will be limited to 60 trucks entering the enclave each day, with 20kg parcels distributed to people whose identities will be checked by facial recognition tools and who will be alerted by SMS messages to collect their food and essential supplies.
“In this model, only hot meals within hubs will be allowed. No other kitchens or bakeries would be permitted to operate in Gaza,” according to the memo.
'What are our choices? Watch people starve to death, or watch people starve to death but while a select few get fed?'
- Aid worker for organisation operating in Gaza
MEE understands that a similar Israeli plan was proposed during the Biden administration, but not enacted. The memo says the US government has now “voiced clear support for this system though it is unclear whether they would be providing funding”.
The UN and international aid organisations, however, reject the plan which they say contravenes humanitarian principles and could drive civilians and aid workers into dangerous militarised zones.
In a statement on Sunday, the UN said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher “have made it clear that we will not participate in any scheme that does not adhere to the global humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality”.
But by the end of the day, Israel’s security cabinet approved the plan, reportedly by a large majority, with satellite evidence emerging on Wednesday that work has already begun to build the hubs.
Broader crackdown
Aid workers say it is not only the hubs in Gaza which concern them, but also a new, much more detailed process that is requiring international NGOs to re-register with the Israeli government in order to work in the occupied Palestinian territories.
“They want details of every single person who works for us and potentially our beneficiaries as well, details of staff locations, biometric information,” said another aid worker with an organisation operating in Gaza.
Aid organisations say they have been told that public support of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel or the movement to boycott Israel by a staff member in the past seven years could result in an organisation being de-registered.
A group of 55 organisations operating in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories this week criticised the new criteria as “vague, broad, politicised and open-ended” and said it threatened to shut down their work.
“By framing humanitarian and human rights advocacy as a threat to the state, Israeli authorities can shut out organisations merely for speaking out about conditions they witness on the ground, forcing INGOs to choose between delivering aid and promoting respect for the protections owed to affected people,” they wrote.
The organisations highlighted that they believe the re-registration process is only one prong in a broader crackdown on humanitarian and civic space in Israel and the occupied territories.
They pointed to blockades and delays of aid, the unprecedented killing of more than 400 humanitarian workers in Gaza, and legislation aimed at curtailing the operations of Unrwa, the largest provider of essential services for Palestinians.
MEE asked Cogat about the Gaza plan and the new registration requirements and was referred to the Israeli army, which did not respond to requests for comment.
One of the aid workers speaking to MEE said the latest pressures on their work felt like the darkest moment in an already unprecedented situation.
“This is the worst of the crisis,” they said.
“When you add all of these things together with the blockade, then the situation is so desperate that probably people will say, ‘Yeah ok, if that’s the way we are going to get aid in, we will do it because otherwise everyone is going to die.’”
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
