165 International Aid Groups Call For The End Of Operations For The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

JAKARTA - More than 165 major international charities and non-governmental organizations, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Amnesty, have called for the operation of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to be ended soon.

"Palestinians in Gaza face impossible choices: hunger or risk being shot while trying desperately to get food to feed their families," the groups said in a joint statement, reported The Times of Israel July 1.

The call by charities and NGOs is a sign of the latest problem for the United States and Israel-backed GHF.

The agency began distributing aid on May 26, following a nearly three-month Israeli blockade amid a war that has plunged the Gaza Strip into a humanitarian crisis.

In response to these aid groups, GHF asked them to join their operations.

"Instead of fighting and insulting each other, we would welcome other humanitarian groups to join us and feed the people in Gaza," the GHF statement said.

"We are ready to work together and help them distribute aid to people in need. In the end, the Palestinian people need to be fed," he said.

Last week, the United Nations human rights office said it "armed" food for civilians in Gaza was a war crime, in its strongest statement so far on a new model of aid distribution run by Israeli-backed organizations.

UN human rights spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters at a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, more than 410 people had died from gunfire or bullets fired by the Israeli military while trying to reach the GHF distribution site.

The death toll comes from Palestinian health authorities and other sources including non-governmental organizations and is in the process of being verified by his office, he added.

"People who are desperate and hungry in Gaza continue to face inhumane choices, namely hunger or risking death while trying to get food," he said, describing the system as "Israel's military humanitarian aid mechanism".

When asked if Israel was guilty of the war crimes, he said: "Legal qualification needs to be made by the courts."

Israel rejects accusations of war crimes in Gaza and blames Hamas fighters for losses suffered by civilians for operating between them, accusations denied by the Palestinian militant group.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it was conducting an investigation and denied its troops were ordered to fire on civilians.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the deaths of civilians at the aid distribution site were unacceptable and called for an investigation.

Since the beginning, the United Nations and aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF, fearing the agency will prioritize Israel's military targets over humanitarian needs, assessing that the GHF is not neutral and has a UN model and aid groups refuse to cooperate with the GHF, fearing the agency will prioritize Israel's military targets over humanitarian needs.

Yesterday, medical sources in Gaza confirmed that the death toll of Palestinians in the enclave since the conflict broke out on October 7, 2023 has reached 56,647 people, the majority of children and women, while injured victims reached 134,105 people, quoted from WAFA.