The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) voiced strong criticism of emerging aid distribution plans for Gaza on May 9th, Middle East Eye via Reuters reported.
The group warned that the proposed plans would heighten suffering and displacement for civilians, particularly children.
UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said the proposed system of four “Secure Distribution Sites,” currently under discussion among aid agencies and reportedly supported by both Israel and the United States, risks turning aid into a tool of coercion, Reuters reported on May 9th.
“It appears the design of a plan presented by Israel to the humanitarian community will increase ongoing suffering of children and families in the Gaza Strip,” Elder said.
The plan comes as the US State Department indicated that a food delivery solution for Gaza was imminent. According to a draft plan circulated among aid groups, each distribution site would serve up to 300,000 people. US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee stressed on May 9th that Israel would not be involved in the direct distribution of aid.
But Elder warned that the plan would force already-displaced families to make dangerous journeys for essential supplies. “The use of humanitarian aid as a bait to force displacement, especially from the north to the south, will create this impossible choice: a choice between displacement and death,” he said.
Elder, who has undertaken several operations in Gaza since the war started 19 months ago, described the plan as a tactic to control access to life-sustaining resources, rather than a viable humanitarian solution.
Elder called for an easier plan: an end to Israel’s blockade on Gaza, which has now gone on for over two months. “Lift the blockade. Let humanitarian aid in to save lives.”
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said it no longer has food to give as aid for Gaza, after Israel’s aid blockade, the BBC reported on April 25th.
The WFP said: “The situation inside the Gaza Strip has once again reached a breaking point…and the fragile gains made during the short ceasefire have unravelled.”
Middle East Eye, Reuters, BBC
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