Christopher Lockyer, Secretary General of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), described the US-Israeli aid organization Gaza Humanitarian’s efforts to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip as “catastrophic,” stressing the “ineffectiveness of the US-Israeli plan to instrumentalize aid.”
Commenting on the injury of dozens of people while the organization was distributing “insufficient quantities” of vital supplies in Rafah, southern Gaza, Lockyer said, “Palestinians, deprived of food, water, and medical assistance for nearly three months, have been placed behind fences waiting for the basic necessities of life.
“This is a stark reminder of the inhumane treatment imposed by the Israeli authorities for more than 19 months.” He added, “Under this dangerous and irresponsible approach, food aid is not distributed where it is most needed, but only in areas chosen by the Israeli forces to concentrate civilians. This means that the most vulnerable people, especially the elderly and people with disabilities, have almost no chance of obtaining the food they desperately need.”
He explained that the claim that this immoral and flawed mechanism is necessary to prevent aid diversion is false.
He pointed out that since the beginning of the war, they have treated patients directly.
He commented, “This initiative appears to be a cynical maneuver aimed at pretending to respect international humanitarian law, but in reality, it uses aid as a tool for forced population displacement, as part of a broader strategy that resembles an attempt to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip and to justify the continuation of a war without borders.”
In the same context, the Secretary General of Doctors Without Borders revealed that the humanitarian system is being stifled by restrictions imposed on it. Israeli authorities allow aid trucks into Gaza in small batches, then block them once they cross the border, preventing vital aid from reaching those most in need, including children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers.
