Christian development charity Embrace has accused the Israeli government of deliberately withholding aid as part of its ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
Embrace is one of a 100 organisations that have put their name to a statement demanding Israel cease what amounts to an effective blockade of aid entering Gaza.
Israel claims that it is not limiting the amount of aid that can reach Gaza, however the NGOs responsible for delivering the aid tell a different story.
Israeli authorities often do block aid on the grounds that the NGO in question is “not authorised” to do so. Dozens of NGOs have had their applications to deliver aid denied, with 60 requests denied in the month of July.
The reason for the increase in denials is the new requirements imposed by Israel, which critics call “vague and politicized”.
NGOs which question the legitimacy of the Israeli state, and which fail to provide the details of private donors and a list of Palestinian staff members are typically denied authorisation to deliver aid.
Security is the stated reason for these requirements, however the NGOs in question have said that requirements to share staff data are “unlawful … unsafe, and incompatible with humanitarian principles”.
While Israel is concerned that international aid may be reaching Hamas via Palestinian aid workers on the ground, the NGOs note that 98 per cent of aid workers killed in the conflict so far have been Palestinian.
According to the statement by aid organisations, “most major international NGOs have been unable to deliver a single truck of lifesaving supplies” since the rules came into effect in early March.
One such example is the aid group Anera. The group’s President and CEO, Sean Carroll, said, “Anera has over $7 million worth of lifesaving supplies ready to enter Gaza – including 744 tons of rice, enough for six million meals, blocked in Ashdod just kilometres away.”
