Under the scorching sun and the cameras of armed drones circling menacingly above their heads, thousands of Palestinians walk between machine guns to reach the four food aid pick-up points for the two million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. As the hours pass, the lines grow longer behind the checkpoints and barbed wire. Suddenly, the drone loudspeakers give the command: Move forward. Pandemonium ensues.
The impoverished people run, push each other, struggle to reach the stalls first to grab a cardboard box of dry food. Boxes are torn, packages are opened, some try to gather the contents in their fists. Within a few minutes, another slogan is given over the loudspeakers: Distribution is over, the center is closing. The area must be evacuated immediately. Whoever can get there first, can get there first. An equally dangerous route back to the camps and the ruins follows.
The strongest get something to keep themselves and their families alive, as long as they are not accidentally killed by private guards (American and other mercenaries) and the Israeli army, who try with bullets, tear gas and bombs to maintain order, protect themselves from the mob and neutralize terrorists. The weakest, the elderly, the children, who cannot take part in these hunger fights, depend on the alms of the strong.
This is how humanitarian aid is distributed in Gaza by the non-governmental organization GHF, according to hundreds of testimonies and reports by international agencies on the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, accompanied by photographic documents of malnourished children. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in distribution operations, thousands have been injured, while Gaza's health services (which are under Hamas control) report that the number of deaths from starvation exceeds 120, including 83 children.
Since the middle of last week, an average of 10 deaths from starvation have been reported daily. Humanitarian organizations fear that the death toll will rise dramatically in the coming days and weeks unless large amounts of aid are delivered throughout Gaza. They also point out that infectious diseases are spreading due to the lack of clean water.
Flour on the black market
It is assumed that each package given by GHF includes food (flour, pulses, oil, sugar, canned food) for the preparation of 60 meals and that in two months ingredients for over 90 million meals have been distributed. However, the bypassing of UN services resulted in the emptying of warehouses and the virtual abolition of the 400 aid distribution points in the Strip, which were replaced by the three centers of the American-Israeli organization in the south and another one in the center of the Strip. On the black market, a bag of 25 kilograms of flour was sold for 550 dollars, a kilogram of onions for 32 dollars, 1 egg for 5 dollars, as reported by an executive of the humanitarian organization Christian Aid. A pack of 64 baby diapers ($190) is an extreme luxury, which is why mothers wrap their babies in plastic garbage bags.
The so-called GHF distribution centers are sadistic death traps, where snipers shoot people at will, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini has denounced. This, he said, is a mass manhunt with complete impunity. The morgues are exhausted and collapsing, as are doctors, nurses, journalists and humanitarian workers, Lazzarini added. It is noted that the Israeli authorities have banned UNRWA from operating in the occupied territories, claiming that its staff participated in the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
It is not just the UN agencies that are denouncing Israel's policy. More than 100 humanitarian organizations are calling on Israel to open the border crossings, where 6,000 trucks full of supplies are waiting. The Netanyahu government insists that Hamas is responsible for the suffering of the population, because it does not lay down its arms, holds dozens of hostages and uses civilians as shields.
The inadequacy of the GHF was apparent even before it was put into effect. We can now say with all honesty that it is a complete failure, an absolute mess, Michael Milstein, a former army intelligence officer and head of the Department of Palestinian Studies at Tel Aviv University, told Vima. The main goal was to separate Hamas from the people and weaken its capabilities, but that was not achieved. I think 60 days were enough to fully demonstrate the inadequacy of the GHF, he added.
The people who protest against Israel have been brainwashed
There is growing concern within Israel about further international isolation, but also anger over the protests in many countries. We are facing a huge global campaign against Israel. Even though I am not a big supporter of this government, I can tell you that I find it quite strange. We are fighting the leaders of Hamas, which is essentially ISIS before ISIS, and what we get in return is that people are campaigning against Israel, Ben Dror Gemini, a senior columnist for Yedioth Ahronoth, the country’s largest daily newspaper, told Vima. People have been brainwashed by social media and do not understand the nature of the conflict. We did not start this war, we were attacked. The world has gone crazy, the protests are just a part of this madness, the Israeli journalist argued.
West Bank annexation and Trump's Riviera plan on the Knesset table
It is characteristic that both the government parties and the main opposition denounced as the reward of terrorismthe announcement by French President Emmanuel Macronto recognize the state of Palestine next September.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Parliament, following a government initiative (Likud party and far-right partners), called for the annexation of Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley, i.e. the occupied West Bank. The resolution is not binding, but it officially puts the issue on the table for any negotiation, inside and outside Israel. At the same time, a conference was held in the Knesset premises with the participation of the far-right Minister of Economy Bezalel Smotrich and the leadership of the settler movement, on the subject of the settlement of the Gaza Strip and entitled The Gaza Riviera: from vision to implementation.
