Palestinians return with bags and boxes from a food distribution point run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) group. AFP
An exceptionally-large group of the UN-mandated experts voiced grave concerns over the GHF's operations.
The private organisation began distributing food in Gaza Strip in May as Israel began easing a more than two-month aid blockade on the Palestinian territory that had exacerbated existing shortages.
"The GHF ... is an utterly disturbing example of how humanitarian relief can be exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law," the experts said in a joint statement.
"The entanglement of Israeli intelligence, US contractors and ambiguous non-governmental entities underlines the urgent need for robust international oversight and action under UN auspices.
"Calling it 'humanitarian' adds on to Israel's humanitarian camouflage and is an insult to the humanitarian enterprise and standards."
On July 22, the UN rights office said Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid in Gaza since the GHF started operations -- nearly three-quarters of them in the vicinity of GHF sites.
"Without clear accountability, the very idea of humanitarian relief may ultimately become a casualty of modern hybrid warfare," the special rapporteurs said.
"The credibility and effectiveness of humanitarian assistance must be restored by dismantling the GHF, holding it and its executives accountable, and allowing experienced and humanitarian actors from the UN and civil society alike to take back the reins of managing and distributing lifesaving aid."
The joint statement was signed by Francesca Albanese, the UN's special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.
The statement was also signed by 18 other special rapporteurs, plus other UN experts and members of UN working groups -- a notably large number for such statements.
Special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to report their findings. They do not, therefore, speak for the United Nations itself.
More than two million people live in the Gaza Strip.
An Integrated Food Security Phase Classification alert published late last week states that “Famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City.”
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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