Israel is “engineering chaos and massacres” in the Gaza Strip by blocking aid deliveries and opening fire on starving Palestinians seeking food supplies, according to Caroline Willemen, Gaza project coordinator for Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Willemen told newsmen that food remains “critically scarce” in the besieged enclave despite increased aid entry in recent days.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Friday that three more people, including two children, died of hunger and malnutrition in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total number of starvation-related deaths to 162, including 92 children, since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023. Over 80 Palestinians were also killed in Israeli strikes across the Strip on Friday, with 49 people killed and more than 270 others wounded while seeking aid.
Willemen emphasized that the current methods of distribution are “engineering chaos and massacres”. “There is little indication that sufficient aid will arrive consistently,” she said. “As a result, every day, people risk their lives in a desperate search for food.” Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), wrote on X that airdrops are “highly costly, insufficient & inefficient” and urged Israel to allow unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza. “As the people of #Gaza are starving to death, the only way to respond to the famine is to flood Gaza with assistance.”
Olga Cherevko, an official with the UN’s humanitarian office (OCHA), said that while there has been a slight increase in aid being allowed in, it is still grossly insufficient. “The slight increase in what is coming in is not nearly enough to even scratch the surface,” she said. “The needs on the ground are overwhelming.”
Palestinians in Gaza continue to risk their lives seeking aid at notorious sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Ibrahim Mekki, a Palestinian man from Nuseirat refugee camp, said he waited at least six hours and risked being shot by Israeli forces just to end up with a few bags of pasta. “It’s a trap, a game,” he said. “Letting you move a little, then opening fire.” The UN’s human rights office reported that at least 1,373 aid seekers have been killed in Gaza since May, with most of these killings committed by the Israeli military.
Despite growing global criticism, Israel and its top ally, the US, continue to support GHF. US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, visited the enclave on Friday to “assess conditions” and engage with GHF. Witkoff said the trip aimed to help “craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza”. The Trump administration approved $30m to support GHF’s operations last month.
The US provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel annually, as well as diplomatic backing at the UN. MSF’s Willemen recounted a harrowing incident from earlier this week, when Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians attempting to reach aid trucks near the Zikim crossing in northern Gaza. “People were wounded in the gunfire and in the crush as crowds panicked and ran,” she said. “These deadly incidents have become a daily reality in Gaza for too long now”.