Top UN official decries 'collective humiliation' of US-Israel Gaza aid mechanism

A top UN  human rights official has condemned the Israeli-American mechanism for distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza on Saturday, calling it "unsustainable" and a form of "collective humiliation" that deepens the suffering of Palestinians enduring a war described by the UN as genocidal in nature.

Ajith Sunghay, representative of the UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territories, said the aid distribution system operated by the Israeli-American Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is failing the people of Gaza.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency from Geneva, Sunghay warned that the mechanism "lacks fairness, neutrality, and independence" and forces already malnourished civilians to risk their lives for food.

"This system carries a humiliating element that compounds the humanitarian suffering of Gaza’s population,” he said. "It is unsustainable."

Since early May, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation - a Swiss-registered entity rejected by the UN - has distributed limited aid in central and southern Gaza.

The New Arab's Arabic sister outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported that this effort forms part of a wider Israeli strategy to depopulate northern Gaza by making it unliveable and depriving its residents of food and medical aid.

But the plan has already begun to collapse.

According to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, on 27 May, large crowds of starving civilians overran a distribution point in southern Gaza. Israeli forces opened fire, killing three people and injuring around 50 others, according to official Palestinian sources.

"What we saw on 27 May - the chaos, the desperation - was a direct result of this dysfunctional system," said Sunghay. "People are dying of hunger. This is not aid distribution. It is collective humiliation.”

The UN has refused to participate in the mechanism due to its ethical and operational flaws. "We have made our position clear," Sunghay said.

"This system does not meet the needs of Palestinians. We spoke with people in Gaza, and they too reject this mechanism."

"We cannot expect women, children, the elderly, the sick and the wounded to walk for kilometres to reach distribution points only in the south, while the rest of Gaza is completely cut off. Aid must reach people where they are," he added.

Disturbing images of civilians queuing behind barbed wire to receive food have drawn international criticism. "Those scenes reflect a bitter reality that cannot be accepted," Sunghay said.

The UN official also condemned Israel’s broader policy of starvation, citing data from Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that since 2 March, Israel has blocked humanitarian access to Gaza's 2.4 million residents. This has forcibly displaced nearly 900,000 people - almost half the population - into overcrowded zones with no clean water, limited food, and no safe hospitals.

Sunghay appealed to the international community for urgent action: "The UN, including High Commissioner Volker Türk, has repeatedly warned of starvation being used as a weapon of war. This is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and must stop immediately."

"If we do not act now, we will see more deaths, more displacement, and more suffering. This war must end," he concluded.