Israel’s Strategy of Sponsoring Thugs to Seize Aid ‘Perpetuates Chaos’: Gaza’s Interior Ministry
Gaza (Quds News Network)- Gaza’s Ministry of Interior and National Security has accused Israel of pursuing a policy of targeting its staff “carrying out their duty of securing aid trucks distributed by international organisations, preventing them from reaching those in need safely”.
It also accused Israeli forces of sponsoring “networks of thieves and thugs to seize control of aid trucks, depriving more than two million citizens of safe access and perpetuating famine in the Strip”.
“This is a blatant attempt by the occupation to absolve itself of legal responsibility for using starvation as a weapon in times of war,” the Ministry said in a statement.
This strategy forces Palestinians to travel long distances for aid, putting themselves at great risk, the statement read, adding that this has led to the “destruction of some of the aid supplies due to stampede and overcrowding”.
“Meanwhile, the occupation directly targets them and commits massacres, killing dozens daily near the routes leading to the entry of aid.”
In January alone, Israeli forces and settlers carried out 28 raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque and prevented the call to prayer 57 times at the Ibrahimi Mosque, an official report said.
Israel is holding the bodies of around 777 identified Palestinians, including 88 detainees who died in Israeli prisons amid reports of torture and medical negligence, according to a Palestinian organization advocating for their release.
Only five of the 450 Palestinian patients in critical condition will be allowed to leave the Gaza Strip on Monday, after Israel reopened the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt for limited traffic following two years of genocide and nearly 20 months of closure.