Gaza truce talks falter after Israeli negotiators insist Hamas surrenders weapons first
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Middle East Eye
29 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
Former UN aid chief: Israel committing ‘worst crime of the 21st century' in Gaza
Former United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths has accused Israel of committing a genocide in Gaza as more children starve to death in the enclave due to the continued siege. In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with Middle East Eye's Expert Witness Podcast, Griffiths said the deliberate starvation in Gaza is the worst he has seen in his many decades of work as a humanitarian. 'There can frankly be very little doubt that we are seeing starvation and hunger as an instrument of the war,' he told MEE. 'There is no prior experience in my five decades of humanitarian experience that can come close to comparison to the horror we are all seeing in Gaza,' he said. 'The UN announcement, based on serious hospital data, that people are fainting in the street from hunger and malnutrition, tells us all we need to know. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'It is a historic fact that children die first in these circumstances. Our humanity cannot believe our eyes.' Israel's siege on Gaza since 2 March has blocked the entry of humanitarian supplies by the UN and its partner organisations to the enclave, bringing the 2.1 million population to the brink of famine. At least 101 Palestinians, including 80 children, have died of starvation since March, including 15 who died of malnutrition on Monday, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The UN's agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), the largest humanitarian provider in Gaza, has had 6,000 trucks loaded with food and medical supplies in Egypt and Jordan for four and a half months, but Israel has yet to let them in. Prior to the current siege, aid groups were able to bring in around 600 trucks per day - the minimum amount of aid humanitarian organisations say is needed for Gaza's population, Unrwa head Philippe Lazzarini told MEE in May. Unrwa's communications director, Julitte Touma, told MEE on Tuesday that the agency has been receiving 'S.O.S messages' from Palestinians, including its own staff, pleading for any food for them and their children. Some staff members have fainted on duty because of hunger, Touma said. 'It's a genocide' Griffiths has over 50 years of professional experience as a humanitarian and conflict mediator with the United Nations and other global institutions. He has served as the UN's under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, the top humanitarian aid position at the UN. In this capacity, he served for three years between July 2021 and July 2024, under the leadership of Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Members of the UN Security Council listen as Martin Griffiths speaks during a meeting on the war in Gaza, in New York on 13 May 2024 (AFP) He presided over the UN's humanitarian aid efforts in the first nine months of Israel's devastating onslaught on Gaza, which he now labels a genocide. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN's principal judicial organ, issued binding orders to Israel in July, March and May last year to allow and ensure the unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza amid warnings of an impending famine. Israel has failed to abide by the orders. 'I am absolutely convinced that what's going on in Gaza is a genocide, because the thing speaks for itself' - Martin Griffiths The provisional measures orders are part of the case brought by South Africa against Israel at the ICJ, accusing it of breaching the Genocide Convention of 1948, including by imposing conditions of life intended to destroy Palestinians as a group. 'I am absolutely convinced that what's going on in Gaza is a genocide, because the thing speaks for itself,' said Griffiths. He added that what's unique about Gaza is the impunity for the well-documented atrocities over the past 21 months. 'Gaza is a place for massive impunity,' he said. He also warned that the continued international failure to hold Israel accountable creates a precedent for other actors in different conflicts to follow suit without fear of consequences, because 'Israel is getting away with terrible crimes'. 'What happens in Gaza doesn't stay in Gaza.' GHF 'a lure for displacement' Griffiths denounced the US-backed aid distribution scheme in Gaza, led by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), as a 'lure for displacement'. The GHF was launched in May with the aim of replacing the UN's humanitarian work in Gaza and stopping aid reaching Hamas. But since then, the UN says that more than 1,000 starving Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army while seeking aid at the militarised GHF's distribution centres in the south of Gaza. Griffiths says the GHF undermines humanitarian action around the world. 'This is an attempt to use humanitarian delivery as a way of claiming some credit, because we're keeping the people alive. And the argument goes, as you know, that at least we're doing something the UN isn't,' he said, insisting that the UN is capable of delivering aid at scale in Gaza. Israel's US-backed Gaza aid plan may lead to second Nakba, UN agency chief warns Read More » He also rejected the Israeli claim that the UN's aid gets looted by Hamas. 'This was never tested by evidence or an accountable process,' he said. Griffiths said the GHF contravenes the established principle in humanitarian work that aid should not be distributed or controlled by one side of the conflict. 'I know personally in humanitarian operations across history, whether it's in Cambodia, Somalia, Ukraine or elsewhere, that you do not provide humanitarian aid under the auspices of one warring party, and you do not do it within a military environment.' 'This ain't humanitarian,' he said. Griffiths added that the GHF is a means of displacing Palestinians to the south and eventually out of the country. 'It's a lure for displacement,' he said. Additionally, Griffiths took aim at the GHF for failing to carry out any monitoring of where the aid goes. 'No humanitarian agency in the public domain, and I know directly, would ever get away with providing aid by shoving it off the back of a truck,' he told MEE. 'You need to continue the monitoring, third-party monitoring, to make sure that it goes to the people who you decided are the priority.' The GHF is not equipped to monitor the destination of the aid because it does not have access across Gaza. 'This is a dereliction of humanitarian duty and responsibility, never mind principles.' Griffiths added that the GHF should not be accepted as an aid distribution mechanism after any possible ceasefire. Otherwise, it would set a precedent for other conflicts, he said, including by the Russians in the occupied areas of Ukraine. 'This is a precedent which would be directly insisted on elsewhere.' 'I did a lot of work on Ukraine. The [Russians] keep pushing back on aid from the international system to come through to the people under their administration.'
Dubai Eye
an hour ago
- Dubai Eye
More than 100 aid, rights groups call for action as hunger spreads in Gaza
More than 100 aid and rights groups on Wednesday called for governments to take action as hunger spreads in Gaza, including by demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the lifting of all restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid. In a statement signed by 111 organisations, including Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and Refugees International, the groups warned that mass starvation was spreading across the enclave even as tons of food, clean water, medical supplies and other items sit untouched just outside Gaza as humanitarian organisations are blocked from accessing or delivering them. "As the Israeli government's siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families. With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes," the organisations said. "The Government of Israel's restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death." The organisations called for governments to demand that all bureaucratic and administrative restrictions be lifted, all land crossings be opened, access to everyone across Gaza to be ensured and for the rejection of military-controlled distribution and a restoration of a "principled, UN-led humanitarian response." "States must pursue concrete measures to end the siege, such as halting the transfer of weapons and ammunition." Israel, which controls all supplies entering Gaza, denies it is responsible for shortages of food. More than 800 people have been killed in recent weeks trying to reach food, mostly in mass shootings by Israeli soldiers posted near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centers. The foundation, backed by the United States, has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality. Israeli forces have killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians in airstrikes, shelling and shooting since launching their assault on Gaza in response to attacks on Israel by the Hamas group that killed 1,200 people and captured 251 hostages in October 2023. For the first time since the war began, Palestinian officials say dozens are now also dying of hunger. Gaza has seen its food stocks run out since Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March and then lifted that blockade in May with new measures it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups. The Norwegian Refugee Council told Reuters on Tuesday its aid stocks were completely depleted in Gaza, with some of its staff now starving, and the organisation accused Israel of paralysing its work.
Dubai Eye
an hour ago
- Dubai Eye
Arab League Council rejects changes to Ibrahimi Mosque status
The Arab League Council has reaffirmed its complete rejection of any attempts to alter the current status of the Ibrahimi Mosque and its surroundings in the Old City of Hebron. It cited reported efforts to restrict access, silence the call to prayer, alter its features or disconnect it from its Palestinian context. The council held Israeli forces responsible for what it described as violations in this regard. The council emphasized the importance of maintaining Palestinian administrative authority over the mosque and its vicinity, referring to it as an Islamic endowment overseen by the Palestinian Ministry of Islamic Endowments. It warned that Israeli actions at the site, which it characterized as attempts to assert control, are part of broader efforts to reshape the area. The council called on the international community to uphold and enforce relevant international resolutions. The statement was issued in response to reported Israeli government plans to revoke the Hebron municipality's authority over the Ibrahimi Mosque and its surrounding area. The statement was released at the conclusion of a session of the council at the level of permanent representatives. The meeting was chaired by Jordan, at the request of the State of Palestine and with the support of other member states. Ambassador Hossam Zaki, Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League, along with permanent ambassadors from member states, were in attendance. The council reiterated its support for the 2017 UNESCO decision that listed the Ibrahimi Mosque and the Old City of Hebron as World Heritage in Danger, stating that recent developments appear to contravene this designation. It also stated that Israel does not possess sovereignty over Palestinian territories and heritage sites, warning that the Israeli plan represents a significant escalation that could alter the historical identity of the site and affect Palestinian cultural heritage. The council further warned of potential consequences for religious sites and regional stability. The council called for adherence to the 1997 agreement signed between the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Israel, which provides that the administration of the Ibrahimi Mosque remains under the authority of the Hebron Municipality. It condemned Israeli measures aimed at increasing control over parts of Hebron and the mosque, which the council said change the historical and legal status of the area and restrict Palestinian access. It urged the United Nations Secretary-General to take effective measures to ensure civilian protection in Hebron. The council also stressed the need to send an urgent monitoring mission to Hebron, in line with previous decisions of the World Heritage Committee, to evaluate the situation on the ground. It called for renewed diplomatic efforts to document and monitor developments in and around the Ibrahimi Mosque. Additionally, the council urged the UN Special Rapporteurs on freedom of religion and human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories to investigate and report on the situation. It also requested that Arab League missions and councils of Arab ambassadors communicate the contents of the resolution to their host governments.
