Israel forcibly displaces 180,000 Palestinians in Gaza: UN
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says almost 180,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to relocate due to the Israeli regime’s intense attacks on displacement camps.
The Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster of the IOM on Tuesday condemned in the “strongest terms” the escalation of attacks on displacement camps in Gaza and warned that civilian protection is deliberately under attack by the Israeli regime.
“The latest wave of displacement comes as direct attacks on sites have become common, including a deadly airstrike on tents in the al-Mawasi area and a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City,” the CCCM Cluster said in a statement.
“The Global CCCM Cluster unequivocally condemns attacks on displacement sites in the strongest terms. These sites serve to protect displaced civilians, in line with the enduring obligation under international humanitarian law to ensure the safety and dignity of civilian populations in all circumstances.”
Since the Israeli regime violated the ceasefire agreement with the Hamas resistance group on March 18, nearly 616,000 people have been displaced, many multiple times.
The UN’s humanitarian partners have estimated that 80% of Gaza is now under displacement orders or marked as “no-go.”
“The Global CCCM Cluster calls for an immediate end to attacks on displacement sites, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access, and the protection of civilians irrespective of their location,” the organization stated.
The CCCM Cluster also said that new alternative aid delivery plans, proposed by Israel and the US, that bypass established coordination through the UN, can “undermine humanitarian principles” and increase civilian risk by promoting displacement without adequate support.
UN: Gaza Humanitarian Foundation mere distraction
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday that they have no credible data that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has actually “distributed” any humanitarian aid in Gaza.
GHF is an Israeli-US-backed group, based in Geneva, that has been set up to function as an alternative to the already established methods of aid delivery, through UN-affiliated organizations, to Gaza.
GHF has claimed that since the Israeli regime allowed for a limited entrance of humanitarian aid into Gaza, it has delivered and distributed several truckloads of food among the population.
GHF has promised that, based on the new method of delivery and distribution, designed by the regime and the US, it will distribute 300 million meals in its first 90 days of operation.
OCHA and UNRWA are both very skeptical of these claims and told a press briefing in Geneva that they were unaware of whether any aid had actually been distributed.
Jens Laerke, OCHA’s Spokesperson and media strategist has said about GHF that “It is a distraction from what is actually needed, which is a reopening of all the crossings into Gaza; a secure environment within Gaza; and faster facilitation of permissions and final approvals of all the emergency supplies that we have just outside the border that need to get in.”
Since October 7, 2023, when the Israeli regime began its genocidal war on Gaza, it has killed 54,000 Palestinians and injured nearly 119,000 others, most of whom are children and women.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has escalated dramatically since March 18 because the Israeli regime has severely restricted the entry of food, fuel, medicine, and water into the territory.
According to the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), Gaza suffers from phase 5 famine, and nearly 71,000 children under the age of five are at risk of acute malnutrition.
The IPC defines phase 5 famine as when at least one in five households experience an extreme lack of food and face starvation, resulting in destitution, extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition, and death.
