AhlulBayt News Agency – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has strongly opposed a US-backed Israeli aid plan for Gaza, warning that it could force families into an “impossible choice between displacement and death.”
The plan, introduced by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, proposes a new aid mechanism managed by a private foundation established by the US. The so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation would create distribution sites secured by private US military contractors and staffed by aid workers.
The United Nations and major humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza have rejected the plan, arguing that it effectively "weaponizes" aid and undermines humanitarian principles.
UNICEF spokesperson James Elder, speaking in Geneva, criticized the proposal, stating, “It is dangerous to ask civilians to enter militarized zones to collect rations… humanitarian aid should never be used as a bargaining chip.”
Elder further warned that using aid as a tool to force displacement—particularly from northern to southern Gaza—would leave families with no viable options, exacerbating their suffering.
He emphasized that if the plan were implemented, Gaza’s most vulnerable individuals—including the elderly, disabled children, the sick, and the wounded—would face severe difficulties in accessing aid.
Elder concluded that the plan’s structure would only worsen the humanitarian crisis for children and families in Gaza.
Practically unfeasible
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs described the plan as “practically unfeasible, incompatible with humanitarian principles.”
The United Nations also criticized the plan for a critically low number of distribution sites, which could force displaced Palestinians to walk long distances carrying heavy packages of rations for large families.
Lift Gaza siege instead
The main UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, called on the Israeli regime to instead lift its nearly 10-week total siege on Gaza and allow aid to flow in freely.
UNRWA, the largest aid provider in the enclave, said it has “over 3,000 trucks of aid” stranded outside Gaza.
It said that “basic humanitarian supplies, including food, fuel, medical aid and vaccines for children, are rapidly running out; UNRWA flour and food parcels have run out and over one third of essential medical supplies are already out of stock.”
“This is having a devastating impact on the population, particularly on vulnerable groups including children, women, and the elderly.”
Ambassador Huckabee acknowledged that the plan will initially feed only about 60% of the population.
He said the aid mechanism will aim to distribute food in a way that “Hamas is not able to get their hands on it.”
Hamas, however, described the proposal as part of Tel Aviv’s “plans for displacement and subjugation through a policy of starvation.”
In a statement released Friday, the resistance group reiterated its call on the international community “to take urgent action to prevent the militarization of aid and its transformation into a tool for managing starvation and a blatant violation of humanitarian standards.”
The Gaza Strip has been under a complete aid blockade since Israel broke a ceasefire agreement with Hamas in mid-March.
Humanitarian organizations have warned repeatedly that food, water, medicines, and fuel have been running out across the populated territory.
/129
Your Comment