Israel-U.S. aid alternative is ‘cynical sideshow’ to make starvation a bargaining chi
Israel-U.S. aid alternative is ‘cynical sideshow’ to make starvation a bargaining chip: U.N. official
M.U.H
14/05/202518
Tom Fletcher, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA), said on Tuesday that an aid alternative proposed by Israel and backed by the United States is a “cynical sideshow” to turn starvation in the Gaza Strip into a “bargaining chip” and a “fig leaf for further violence and displacement.”
Speaking at a U.N. Security Council meeting, Fletcher said that no food, medicine, water or tents entered Gaza over 10 weeks and that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly displaced, while 70 percent of the strip is under occupation or displacement orders.
According to the U.N. official, 2.1 million residents of Gaza are facing famine, with one in five struggling with severe starvation.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the United Nations secretary-general, warned about the humanitarian consequences of the Israeli-imposed blockade on Gaza. Dujarric said, “Over 70 days into the blanket ban imposed by Israeli authorities on the entry of any supplies into Gaza, stocks have run out, bakeries have shut down, community kitchens are closing daily, and people are starving. This is not a natural disaster, but a human-made catastrophe that the world should not allow.”
Palestine’s U.N. envoy, Riyad Mansour, criticized Israel’s plan for monitoring the distribution of humanitarian aid, calling it “a continuation of the weaponization of aid.” He further said, “Israel has been openly and brazenly blocking humanitarian aid for over two months now. This is engineered starvation.”
On Tuesday, most U.N.S.C. member states and U.N. aid teams rejected the Israeli-U.S. plan for aid delivery control through third-party contractors. China, Russia, Britain, France, Denmark, and Slovenia called on the Israeli regime to allow aid delivery into Gaza.
