“Waste of Time”: UN Again Rejects US-Israeli Gaza Aid Plan

Gaza (Quds News Network)- Tom Fletcher, the UN’s aid chief, issued a statement again rejecting the US-Israeli plan to seize control of food distribution in Gaza, calling it a “waste of time.”

“To those proposing an alternative modality for aid distribution, let’s not waste time: We already have a plan,” Fletcher said, adding that 160,000 pallets of aid are “ready to move” into Gaza, “now”.

Fletcher said the UN’s plan is “rooted in the non-negotiable principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence” and is backed by the “vast majority of the international community”.

“It is ready to be activated – today – if we are simply allowed to do our jobs,” he said.

“We demand rapid, safe, and unimpeded aid delivery for civilians in need,” he added. “Let us work.”

On Thursday, deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said the UN will not take part in the US-backed humanitarian operation in Gaza because it is not impartial, neutral or independent.

“This particular distribution plan does not accord with our basic principles, including those of impartiality, neutrality, independence, and we will not be participating in this,” Farhan Haq told reporters.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also said on Thursday that the UN “has a solid and principled operational plan to deliver humanitarian aid and life-saving services at scale and immediately across the Gaza Strip.”

The new plan would dismantle the existing UN-run distribution system. It would give the Israeli military control over aid flows and create “militarized zones” where Palestinians would be forced to collect food and supplies.

The US confirmed last week that it was preparing a new system for providing aid from a series of hubs inside Gaza, which would be run by private companies and protected by security contractors and Israeli forces.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – an organisation set up to support the plan – initially said food, water and hygiene kits would be supplied to 1.2 million people, less than 60% of the population.

On Wednesday, it reportedly announced it would start operations before the end of May, and appeared to call for Israel to allow aid through normal channels until its distribution centres were fully operational. It also called for aid hubs to be built in northern Gaza, something not envisaged under the original plan and which had led to criticism that people would be forced to move south.

Since March 2, Israel has closed Gaza’s main crossings, halting the flow of food, medical aid, and other humanitarian supplies. This blockade has caused a severe and unprecedented decline in living conditions, with human rights organizations accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinians.

A report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative, released on Monday, said the Gaza Strip “is still confronted with a critical risk of famine” after more than a year and a half of devastating war, with the vast majority of its approximately 2.1 million people at severe risk.

Meanwhile, Bushra Khalidi of Oxfam described the new plan as a “farce”.

“No logistical solution is going to address Israel’s strategy of forcible displacement and using starvation as a weapon of war. Lift the siege, open the crossings and let us do our job.”

On May 4, the UN and all aid organizations operating in Gaza jointly announced they would not cooperate with the Israeli-US plan because it “contravenes fundamental humanitarian principles and appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic — as part of a military strategy. It is dangerous, driving civilians into militarized zones to collect rations, threatening lives, including those of humanitarian workers, while further entrenching forced displacement.”