Christopher Lockyear, Secretary General of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), issued a statement denouncing the degrading and ineffective plan to militarize humanitarian aid in Gaza.
اضافة اعلان
The statement reads as follows:
From the disastrous outset of food distribution coordinated by the newly established Humanitarian Gaza Foundation, it has been clear that the U.S.-Israeli plan to exploit aid is unworkable. On May 27, during the first afternoon of distribution operations in Rafah, southern Gaza, dozens of people were shot at and injured, while wholly insufficient quantities of life-saving essentials were distributed in a chaotic environment.
Palestinians, deprived of food, water, and medical assistance for nearly three months, were trapped behind fences as they waited for basic necessities vital for survival. This is a stark reminder of the inhumane treatment imposed by Israeli authorities for more than 19 months.
Through this dangerous and reckless approach, food is not being distributed where it is most needed, but rather directed solely to areas where Israeli forces choose to concentrate civilians. This means that the most vulnerable—especially the elderly and people with disabilities—have virtually no access to the desperately needed aid.
Claims that this flawed and unethical mechanism is necessary to prevent aid diversion are unfounded. Since the beginning of the war, MSF has treated patients directly whenever we were able to bring supplies into Gaza. This initiative appears to be a cynical ploy to simulate compliance with international humanitarian law. In practice, it weaponizes aid to forcibly displace populations—part of what seems to be a broader strategy of ethnic cleansing in Gaza and a justification for an unrestrained continuation of war.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian system is being choked by imposed restrictions. Israeli authorities have allowed only a paltry number of aid trucks into Gaza, which are then obstructed upon crossing, preventing life-saving supplies from reaching those who need them most—including children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers.
Looting incidents occur as humanitarian organizations are forced to transport these inadequate quantities of aid, in a context where the Israeli siege has created unbearable conditions of deprivation and despair. This is the result of pushing an entire society to the brink, tearing apart its social fabric through relentless violence and deprivation. The outcome: more avoidable deaths and injuries, and an inability to deliver aid in a manner that respects human dignity. This is part of a broader tactic to impose a one-sided narrative: that the only way to deliver aid is through militarization.
Alongside forced displacement orders and aerial bombardments killing civilians, the weaponization of aid in this manner may constitute crimes against humanity. What remains essential now is a permanent ceasefire and the immediate reopening of Gaza’s borders to humanitarian aid—including food, medical supplies, fuel, and equipment—to alleviate the suffering caused by this manufactured catastrophe.
