Militarized Gaza aid system shows Israel's continued use of starvation as weapon of war, Amnesty report says
New report comes as at least 45 Palestinians killed trying to reach aid Thursday
A new Amnesty International report says the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — a controversial U.S.- and Israel-backed group that took over aid distribution in the territory more than a month ago — uses a militarized aid mechanism that enables Israel to use starvation as a weapon of war and inflict genocide against Palestinians.
The report published Thursday points at testimony gathered from medical staff, parents of children hospitalized for malnutrition and displaced Palestinians struggling to find food in the war-torn enclave.
"Their accounts provide further evidence of the catastrophic suffering caused by Israel's ongoing restrictions on life-saving aid and its deadly militarized aid scheme coupled with mass forced displacement, relentless bombardment and destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure," U.K.-based human rights group Amnesty International said in its report.
The latest report comes as at least 45 Palestinians were killed overnight on Wednesday in an attempt to find aid, Gaza's Health Ministry said.
Five people were killed while outside sites associated with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), while 40 others were killed waiting for aid trucks in other locations across the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports and that its forces were taking precautions to mitigate harm to civilians as it battled Palestinian militants throughout Gaza.
In a statement Tuesday, GHF rejected criticism of its operations. It said it has delivered the equivalent of more than 52 million meals through boxes such as lentils and rice.
Amnesty accuses Israel of turning aid access into 'booby trap'
Since late May, when GHF launched operations, at least 650 Palestinians have been killed in shootings and more than 4,500 have been injured near GHF aid sites or on routes to the sites guarded by Israeli forces, according to Gaza's Health Ministry in an update on Thursday.
The GHF launched operations after Israel lifted a complete blockade in the territory in May. Israel had cut off all access to medical, fuel and food supplies for nearly three months.
Amnesty said Israel has "turned aid-seeking into a booby trap for desperate starved Palestinians" through GHF's militarized hubs, creating conditions of "a deadly mix of hunger and disease pushing the population past breaking point."
It said the GHF distribution system appeared intended only to "placate international concerns" even as Israel allows in only a small amount of food for the UN to distribute separately.
"This devastating daily loss of life as desperate Palestinians try to collect aid is the consequence of their deliberate targeting by Israeli forces and the foreseeable consequence of irresponsible and lethal methods of distribution," said Agnès Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International.
"Not only has the international community failed to stop this genocide, but it has also allowed Israel to constantly reinvent new ways to destroy Palestinian lives in Gaza and trample on their human dignity."
The report comes on the heels of nearly 170 non-governmental organizations calling for the dismantling of the GHF-run aid system, saying it forces Palestinians to be caught between starvation and danger, in a joint statement Tuesday. The GHF said on Wednesday it was planning to shut its branch in Geneva after Swiss authorities launched proceedings to dissolve it.
Israel's foreign minister denounced the Amnesty report, saying the organization has "joined forces with Hamas and fully adopted all of its propaganda lies."
Amnesty accused Israel last year of committing genocide, saying it has sought to deliberately destroy Palestinians by mounting deadly attacks, demolishing vital infrastructure and preventing the delivery of food, medicine and other aid.
Israel has rejected allegations it is committing genocide in Gaza in the war with Hamas, and it is challenging the accusation filed by South Africa at the International Court of Justice.
GHF contractors say security staff heavily armed
Two U.S. contractors who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity said they were disturbed by what they considered dangerous and irresponsible practices by the GHF.
The contractors said the security staff hired were often unqualified, unvetted, heavily armed and seemed to have an open licence to do whatever they wished, adding that their colleagues regularly lobbed stun grenades and pepper spray in the direction of the Palestinians.
Last week, Israel's Military Advocate General ordered an investigation into possible war crimes after Israeli newspaper Haaretz published allegations that Israeli soldiers were ordered by the army to deliberately fire at Palestinians attempting to reach aid distribution sites.
The Israeli military acknowledged on Monday that Palestinian civilians have been harmed at aid distribution centres in the Gaza Strip, saying that Israeli forces had been issued new instructions following "lessons learned."
The Israeli army says it has fired warning shots to control crowds and only fires at people it says are acting suspiciously.
The foreign ministry and COGAT, the Israeli defence body in charge of co-ordinating aid to Gaza, said Israel has facilitated the entry of more than 3,000 aid trucks into the Gaza Strip since May 19.
Humanitarian organizations say that amount is not nearly enough to meet overwhelming need in Gaza.
Israeli strikes pound Gaza overnight
Dozens of people were killed in airstrikes that pounded the strip Wednesday night and Thursday morning, including 15 people killed in strikes that hit tents in the sprawling Mawasi zone, where many displaced Palestinians are sheltering, and a strike on a school in Gaza City sheltering displaced people.
Gaza's Health Ministry said the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza has passed 57,000, including 223 missing people who have been declared dead.
The deaths come as Israel and Hamas inch closer to a possible ceasefire that would end the 21-month war. U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on the terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. But Hamas's response, which emphasized its demand that the war end, raised questions about whether the latest offer could materialize into an actual pause in fighting.
The Israeli military blames Hamas for the civilian casualties because it operates from populated areas. The military said it targeted Hamas militants and rocket launchers in northern Gaza that launched rockets toward Israel on Wednesday.
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.
The war has left the coastal Palestinian territory in ruins, with much of the urban landscape flattened in the fighting. More than 90 per cent of Gaza's 2.3 million population has been displaced, often multiple times.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from The Associated Press and Reuters