.webp) |
| Men walk through rubble past damaged buildings with humanitarian aid
packages collected from a drop over the northern Gaza Strip on 23 April
2024 (AFP) |
By MEE staff
Published date: 14 May 2024 12:14 BST
|
Last update: 14 mins 14 secs ago
Israeli
forces have carried out at least eight attacks on aid convoys and
premises in Gaza since October, despite aid groups providing their
locations to Israeli authorities in advance, according to a new report.
Human Rights Watch said in a report on Tuesday that the eight Israeli attacks killed at least 15 people, including two children, and wounded at least 16 others.
They included attacks on World Central Kitchen, Doctors Without
Borders (MSF), the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), Medical
Aid for Palestinians (MAP), the International Rescue Committee and the
American Near East Refugee Aid Organisation.
In an Israeli air strike on MAP and the International Rescue Committee on 18 January, UN investigators who visited the attack concluded it was likely carried out with a US-made munition with parts supplied by the UK. The strike wounded three people.
On 1 April, an Israeli attack
on the World Central Kitchen convoy killed six international aid
workers and their Palestinian driver, which Israel apologised for and
described as a "mistake".
As with all of the eight
attacks documented by Human Rights Watch, World Central Kitchen had
provided Israeli authorities with GPS coordinates of its personnel in
advance, but was still attacked.
"Israel's killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers was
shocking and should never have happened under international law,"
said Belkis Wille of Human Rights Watch. "Israel's allies need to
recognise that these attacks that have killed aid workers have happened
over and over again, and they need to stop."
'Cannot rely on deconfliction'
According to the UN, 254 of its aid workers have been killed since
the war on Gaza began on 7 October. At least 169 Unrwa facilities have
been impacted by Israel's war in 368 separate incidents.
Workers from 11 humanitarian groups and agencies told Human Rights
Watch that Israeli attacks have forced them to either suspend
activities, reduce their staff or restrict their work in other ways.
"I can't risk sending more staff into Gaza because I cannot rely on
deconfliction as a way of keeping them safe," a senior employee at one
organisation attacked by Israeli forces said.
'Bullshit process and result': US report on Israel's Gaza conduct met with disappointment
Read More »
International law prohibits indiscriminate attacks targeting civilian
objects, like aid convoys, that are expected to cause harm to civilians
in a way disproportionate to any military advantage.
In the genocide case against Israel, the International Court of
Justice in January issued a provisional ruling ordering the country to
enable the entry of urgent humanitarian aid into Gaza.
But since the ruling, Israel has been found to be defying the order by directly bombing aid convoys and impeding aid deliveries through delays and denials of entry.
"On one hand, Israel is blocking access to critical lifesaving
humanitarian provisions and on the other, attacking convoys that are
delivering some of the small amount that they are allowing in," Wille
said. "Israeli forces should immediately end their attacks on aid
organizations, and there should be accountability for these crimes."
Israeli civilians have also blocked
entry of aid into the enclave, bringing aid trucks to a standstill by
holding sit-ins, laying down large rocks and even attacking vehicles
directly.
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