A controversial new aid distribution group backed by the US and Israel has begun working in Gaza.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said lorry loads of food had been delivered to secure sites on Monday and that distribution had begun. Hundreds of Palestinians collected food parcels from a site in southern city of Rafah on Tuesday.
The GHF, which uses armed American security contractors, aims to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid to the 2.1 million people in Gaza, where experts have warned of a looming famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade that was recently eased.
A UN spokesman said the operation was a “distraction from what is actually needed” and urged Israel to reopen all crossings.
The UN and many aid groups have refused to co-operate with GHF’s plans, which they say contradict humanitarian principles and appear to “weaponise aid”.
They have warned that the system will practically exclude those with mobility issues, force further displacement, expose thousands of people to harm, make aid conditional on political and military aims, and set an unacceptable precedent for aid delivery around the world.
Israel says an alternative to the current aid system is needed to stop Hamas stealing aid, which the group denies doing.
In a statement sent to journalists on Monday night, GHF announced that it had “commenced operations in Gaza” and delivered “truck loads of food to its Secure Distribution Sites, where distribution to the Gazan people began”.
“More trucks with aid will be delivered [on Tuesday], with the flow of aid increasing each day,” it added.
Handout photos showed three lorries laden with pallets of supplies at an unspecified location and just over a dozen men carrying away boxes.
