The Japan Times - UN blasts new US-backed aid distribution system in Gaza

The issue of aid has come sharply into focus amid a hunger crisis coupled with intense criticism of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a shadowy group that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory.

With the war sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel entering its 600th day on Wednesday, Palestinians in Gaza felt there was no reason to hope for a better future.

In Israel, the relatives of people held hostage in Gaza since the October 7 attack longed for the return of their loved ones, with hundreds gathering in their name in Tel Aviv.

"Six hundred days have passed and nothing has changed. Death continues, and Israeli bombing does not stop," said Bassam Daloul, 40, adding that "even hoping for a ceasefire feels like a dream and a nightmare."

Daloul, who said his family has been displaced 20 times since the start of the war, pointed to shortages of everything from clean water and food to medicine and electricity.

On Tuesday, scenes of desperation and mayhem erupted at a GHF aid distribution centre in southern Gaza, with shots fired by the Israeli military as thousands of Palestinians rushed into the site.

According to the UN, 47 people were injured in the chaos while a Palestinian medical source said at least one had died.

The Israeli military said it fired warning shots, though Ajith Sunghay, the head of UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories, said most of the wounded had been hurt by gunfire.

The UN has repeatedly hit out against the GHF, and Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, on Wednesday reiterated the criticism.

"I believe it is a waste of resources and a distraction from atrocities. We already have an aid distribution system that is fit for purpose," he said during a visit in Japan.

- 'Bread and water' -

On the ground in Gaza, the civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes killed 16 people since dawn Wednesday.

Heba Jabr, 29, who sleeps in a tent in southern Gaza with her husband and their two children, was struggling to find food.

"Dying by bombing is much better than dying from the humiliation of hunger and being unable to provide bread and water for your children", she told AFP.

Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza for over two months, before allowing supplies in at a trickle last week.

A medical source in southern Gaza told AFP that after Tuesday's stampede "more than 40 injured people arrived at Nasser Hospital, the majority of them wounded by Israeli gunfire", adding that at least one had died since.

The source added that "a number of other civilians also arrived at the hospital with various bruises".

Israel's military said in a statement that it "did not carry out any aerial fire toward the humanitarian aid distribution centre in the Rafah area."

It added that "troops fired warning shots in the area outside the compound".

- Hostage families' anguish -

In a statement on Tuesday, the GHF said around "8,000 food boxes have been distributed so far... totalling 462,000 meals".

UN agencies and aid groups have argued that the GHF's designation of so-called secure distribution sites contravenes the principle of humanity because it would force already displaced people to move again in order to stay alive.

Israel stepped up its military offensive in Gaza earlier this month, while mediators push for a ceasefire that remains elusive.

In Israel, hundreds of people gathered to call for a ceasefire that would allow for the release of hostages held by militants in Gaza since their 2023 attack.

Protesters gathered along the country's roads and on the main highway running through the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv at 6:29 am, the exact time the unprecedented October 7 attack began.

Most Israeli media headlines read "600 days", and focused on the hostage families' struggle to get their relatives home.

Other events were planned across Israel to make the 600th day of captivity for the 57 remaining hostages still in Gaza.

Some 1,218 people were killed in Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Wednesday that at least 3,924 people had been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 54,084, mostly civilians.

Y.Mori--JT