Israel has repeatedly attacked aid workers in Gaza who had previously shared their coordinates with the state.
Aid organisations targeted include World Central Kitchen, Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, Medical Aid for Palestinians, American Near East Refugee Aid Organisation, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
Terrorising humanitarian workers
The UN reports that as of 30 April, Israel has killed at least 254 aid workers in Gaza. The majority of those killed are from UNRWA – the largest aid organisation in Palestine.
In eight instances where Human Rights Watch documents that aid workers shared their location with Israel, the state murdered or injured at least 31 people. Israel also gave no warning before the attacks.
The UK and US governments are additionally complicit. In one of these attacks Israel used a US-made bomb fired from an F16 jet, which includes parts the UK supplied.
And in the World Central Kitchen attack on 1 April, Israel struck aid workers with a Hermes 450 drone that uses a UK-made engine.
Israel has an army unit – the Coordination and Liaison Administration. This says it looks after Palestinian humanitarian needs in Gaza.
Targeted aid workers acting for Doctors Without Borders shared their location with this unit.
Making Gaza uninhabitable for Palestinians
The attacks on aid workers appear to be part of Israel’s strategy to attempt to ethnically cleanse Palestinians out of Gaza and force them into other countries like Egypt.
Israel’s conduct to aid workers sends them a chilling message and had forced at least 11 organisations to severely scale back their operations. This contributes to making Gaza uninhabitable for Palestinians.
Israel has weaponised starvation against Palestinian people.
The UN reports that 1.1 million people in Gaza are experiencing or facing catastrophic food insecurity. That’s because Israel is restricting the number of aid trucks entering Gaza to an average of 180 per day.
This is well below the over 500 trucks needed, according to a spokesperson for UNRWA.
Since 24 March, Israel has prevented UNRWA from providing food aid in North Gaza.
This means malnutrition is particularly an issue in North Gaza. Oxfam reports that people there are surviving on an average of 245 calories per day – less than a can of beans.
Israel’s collective punishment against the Palestinian people such as through using starvation as a weapon is a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
We must ensure Israel faces accountability for such atrocities in the ICC. Or the state will continue to act with impunity.
Featured image via NBC News – YouTube and Doctors Without Borders – YouTube
