Over the past three days, the IDF murdered “more than 80” Palestinians desperately seeking food aid from a US-Israeli distribution site in Gaza. Eyewitnesses say the attack involved tank, drone and naval fire on those crowding around the site. The NGO funding the operation implicitly blamed the army for the killings and begged it to cease the bloodshed:
The GHF…asked the Israeli military to “guide foot traffic in a way that minimizes confusion or escalation risks” near military positions; develop clearer guidance for civilians; and enhance training to support civilian safety.
Note that it doesn’t even mention the killings, which it refuses to acknowledge explicitly.
The IDF has released to right wing media a video purporting to show a “Hamas militant” firing into a crowd. The footage is a pathetic attempt at distraction. The alleged shooters are blurred so one cannot see either the figure or alleged weapon. Civilians walk nonchalantly past the “shooters” showing no signs of panic. As usual with such “documentation,” there is no way of verifying who the shooter is or where or when the footage was filmed. Often in such cases, the army claims about the video are exposed as fake.
The aid station is the sole location in which starving Palestinians can obtain food for their families, since for the past three months Israel has cut off all food, water, fuel, medicine and other critical goods from Gaza. Last week, when the site first opened, the IDF also opened fire on the aid seekers killing one and wounding others.
At first, the army rolled out its standard denial saying it didn’t fire at the bystanders and there was no military activity in the vicinity. In the same statement it implied that the report was a ploy by Hamas, which is culpable in some unspecified way:
“Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that starves and endangers the population in order to preserve its control over the Gaza Strip. As part of its brutal behavior and its attempts to disrupt humanitarian aid, Hamas directly harms the residents of Gaza,” the IDF said Sunday.
IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Hamas is spreading false rumors and “fake news” to stop Israel from distributing aid.
“I urge not to believe every rumor spread by Hamas,” he said while in Rafah. “We will investigate each and every one of those incidents and each and every one of those allegations. We are a professional military.”
Actually, the incident is not a “rumor” nor is it “spread by Hamas.” But rather by Palestinian eyewitnesses and scores of foreign media outlets. Further, it is not Hamas that is starving Gazans, but Israel. Nor is Hamas “disrupting humanitarian aid.” Again, Israel is responsible for such disruption. This is a classic case of blaming the victim.
It is part of the standard Israeli playbook to claim it will “launch an investigation” because that is what we do as a responsible military. Which is, to pardon the phrase, bullshit. They never launch an investigation. Never hold anyone accountable, unless there is documentary evidence or the outcry is so severe that it will face denunciation from foreign media. Similarly, it issues an initial denial following by incremental statements leading to greater and greater acknowledgement of culpability. Today, it acknowledged it did fire, but not at the food site:
An Israeli military official tells NBC News that Israeli soldiers fired warning shots “toward several suspects” about half-a-mile from an aid distribution center that was the site of a deadly attack in the Gaza Strip on Sunday.
The official said the “suspects” were advancing “toward troops in an overnight incident,” and that there was no connection between this and “false claims” that the Israeli military killed and injured Palestinians receiving aid early on Sunday.
Tomorrow or the next day, Israel will acknowledge it may have accidentally fired at the site. But that any injuries were unintended. This is close to what has happened:
IDF spokesmen have said soldiers fired above the heads of crowds to disperse them but denied shooting directly at civilians…
The distribution operation was originally devised by Israelis with no expertise in providing such humanitarian aid:
…The project is an Israeli brainchild, first proposed by Israeli officials in the earliest weeks of the war, according to Israeli officials, people involved in the initiative and others familiar with its conception, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak more freely of the initiative.
The New York Times found that the broad contours of the plan were first discussed in late 2023, at private meetings of like-minded officials, military officers and business people with close ties to the Israeli government.
It was conceived as a political tool to facilitate Israeli control. It recommended creating an “independent” non-profit to administer the program, whose distribution sites would be controlled both by Israel and US private security contractors. They established a foundation based in Switzerland with opaque funding. Israeli
Mossad secretly funds operation
Opposition lawmakers point to Israeli government as the funder. Israel’s Kan 11 says the ministry of defense is responsible for the monthly $140-million cost:
Opposition leader Yair Lapid has accused the Israeli government of funding “shell companies,” pointing to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Avigdor Lieberman further suggested Israeli intelligence as one likely the source:
The money for the humanitarian aid is coming from the Mossad and the Defense Ministry – hundreds of millions of dollars…As someone who knows these systems well, it’s clear to me when I see such a construction. You have a foundation that appeared out of nowhere, and a company operating without a background or experience.
It seems obvious,” Lieberman continued, “even if they’re U.S.-registered, the entity that initiated and pushed for the operation is Israel or parties acting on its behalf.”
Under aid protocols, Palestinians would have to undergo Israeli security checks before they were permitted access to food. Everyone would be vetted and photographed by Israeli forces, who would not enter the compound. The private contractors would also be stationed on the outside perimeter.
The main purpose was the provide the minimum amount of aid in order to persuade the world Israel was acting to alleviate suffering. That in turn would enable it to puruse its military objectives unhindered:
Netanyahu vowed…that Israel would begin delivering “minimal humanitarian aid: food and medicine only.” Netanyahu claimed that international pressure, including from pro-Israel Republican senators and the White House, required the appearance of humanitarian intervention. “Our best friends in the world—senators I know as strong supporters of Israel—have warned that they cannot support us if images of mass starvation emerge,” he said. “They come to me and say, ‘We’ll give you all the help you need to win the war… but we can’t be receiving pictures of famine,’” Netanyahu added. To continue the war of annihilation, he asserted, “We need to do it in a way that they won’t stop us.”
Disastrous Israel- funded aid project
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation claims to have distributed 1-million meals per day for the past week. It has provided nothing to support the claim. Even if true, it would mean only half of all Gazans received a single meal. Since residents are scattered throughout Gaza and many have no access to the site, far less than half accessed the food.
Eyewitnesses describe scenes of chaos, confusion and mayhem as Palestinians surged through fences and trampled over each other to grab what they could. According to them, there was no order and no one seeking to provide any direction. Thousands were left empty-handed after walking miles from their shelter. The locations are open only in the morning, since good invariable runs out.
Despite the mass killing, despite the mayhem, GHF has–as has Israel–denied any problems. Denied any responsibility. Denied, in fact, that the events even happened. Which mirrors the Israeli response and confirms that this aid operation is an extension of Israeli policy.
All is not well with the management of the operation. The US management consulting firm, Boston Consulting has cancelled its contract and put the partner responsible for the project on leave. Apparently, its not a good corporate look when one of your projects leads to mass murder. Further, the Foundation has cycled through three directors in the past two weeks. To say it is in disarray is an understatement.
International aid organizations have condemned the effort, saying it is not only haphazard and ineffective, but that it violates every standard of such operations, which must be independent, transparent and free of any outside political influence.
French-Saudi two-state conference
The rejection by established charities with the highest level of expertise in organizing and implementing massive aid operations–of involvement in the Israel scheme–has increased the resolve of foreign governments against Israeli genocide. European allies who’ve stood by and watched as the catastrophe unfolded, have begun to awaken from their moral slumber. This led France’s Emanuel Macron and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman to organize an international conference in Paris in mid-June. The agenda will be to establish benchmarks for Israel and outcomes if it fails to meet them. One of the main goals would be a concerted campaign to recognize a Palestinian state and grant it full UN membership. This would influence the most powerful EU members, which have not yet granted such recognition to Palestine (Britain, France, Germany, Italy, etc.).
Another proposal involves imposing sanctions of various sorts on Israel: academic, trade, cultural, diplomatic. Ending research and economic exchanges between the EU and Israel. There has not yet been any talk about more serious sanctions of the sort imposed on North Korea and Iran, prohibiting all trade and financial transactions; and blocking military aid and purchase of Israeli weapons systems. Those are the concrete deterrents which may have an impact. Everything else is performative. Will the parties have the will to go that far?
It remains to be seen what concrete impact this will have on the ground in Gaza. Israel has ignored any previous opposition mounted by outside parties to its genocide. This approach has generally succeeded and it has faced few consequences. Essentially, it has called the world’s bluff and the latter has blinked. The conference is meant as a warning to Israel that it will no longer be bluffed.
It’s debatable whether this strategy will work. There are a number of moving parts and if any fail, then the entire campaign could collapse. It requires agreement on what steps will be taken to encourage or force Israel to comply. Then the participating member-states must agree to implement the program. In this case, will the EU as a body and individually recognize Palestine. Will it impose harsh, decisive costs on Israel for its behavior? Or will it lapse into the typical platitudes it’s offered until now?
Every day and every moment each one of us, humans in general and Jews in particular, have to ask ourselves whether we’re doing ALL we can to stop this Satanist, unhindered exterminatory effort being carried out right now, right in front of us
Wednesday morning (PST) KAN 11 TV News in Israel reveals all the funding for the current Gaza aid effort comes from the Israeli Defense Ministry.
@Yankel Jr.: Whoa. Do you have a link?
Sorry, I watched it live on my computer. What makes the genocide tragic comedy is that today’s broadcast is showing citizen’s indignation that their tax money is going to feed staving Gazans.
Richard, on a second comment to this post, I think you understand, but let me make it explicit to your readers, that the Israeli Ruling Class has always hated UNRWA from it’s initial establishment. In their mind- No UNRWA, No Palestinians.
Yankel Jr: I found the reporting on it in Haaretz & added it to the post.
Mr. Silverstein. You. are wrong and misleading. The title is completely incorrect. Experience proves that every time accusations of mass murder by Jews – Israelis and Jews in general – have been raised, it has been a blood libel and you are making your website an accomplice to a blood libel against Jews in Israel. Please correct the title to “Hamas terrorists claim that” and add at the end that their reports are known to be unreliable.
Nope. Read the post. It makes clear that scores of media outlets have reported as fact Israeli responsiblity for the murders.
As for “blood libels,” give it a break. The only “blood” here is that of 55,000 Gazans killed by the IDF. Trotting out that hoary old hasbara ploy is unconvincing. Come up with something new and fresh, why don’t you??