Khan Younis, Gaza – At the sight of the riveted body of his son Ahmed, presented in the courtyard of the Nasser hospital in the south of Gaza, Asmahan Shaat collapsed on the ground, surmounted by sorrow. His cries resonated in the air, his voice muffled by shock and sorrow.
She kissed the 23 -year -old’s face, hands and feet while she was crying. Her other six children and parents tried to hold her back, but she pushed them back.
“Leave me with him. Leave me with him, ”she cried. “Ahmed will speak again. He said to me, “Mom, I’m not going to die. I’m going to bring you something from the Rafah help center. »»
Ahmed had left the family of the family moved to Al-Mawasi before dawn Thursday to collect food. He never returned.
His cousin, Mazen Shaat, was with him. Mazen said that Hmed had been shot in the abdomen when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd near the Humanitarian Gaza Foundation Gaza Distribution Center (GHF) supported by the United States in Rafah. Others were also killed and injured.
In just one month, 600 Palestinians were killed and more than 4,200 injured by Israeli fires near GHF aid distribution sites, according to the Gaza government media office, and the number of deaths in these centers climb on a daily basis. Which was supposed to be living lines – facilitated by the United States while bypassing United Nations agencies – have become fatal strangulation.
Human rights organizations and UN officials criticized the GHF model as militarized, dangerous and illegal. Friday, a report published by the Israeli newspaper quoted soldiers of the Israeli army saying that they had been ordered to shoot in unarmed crowds, even when no threat was present.
Asmahan’s sorrow turned to Fury: “Is it reasonable that my son dies because he went to bring us food?” Where is the world that is done freely? How long will this torture continue? ”
The population of 2 million inhabitants of Gaza, exhausted by 21 months of incessant bombings and trips, has been pushed to the edge of the famine by the restrictions of Israel which, since March 2, have authorized only a net of humanitarian items through the sealed level passages which it controls.
‘We want you, not food’
Inside the Nasser Hospital’s morgue, not far from the place where Ahmed was, Shireen, 25, threw herself on her husband’s body, Khalil al-Khatib, 29. She was barely standing as she was sobbing.
“Khalil, get up. Your son Ubaida is waiting for you, ”she cried. “I said to him this morning:” Dad will come back soon “. We don’t want food – we want you.
Khalil had also left Al-Mawasi looking for help. His stepfather, Youssef al-Rumailat, said Khalil took care to avoid Israeli tanks and did not expect to be targeted.
“He was a gentle man,” said Youssef. “He feared for his safety in a place where everything became deadly, so he had not been able to provide his children with anything. His son Ubaida, who has just been five, asked for bread or rice. And he was crying because he could not provide this or the milk to his youngest, born only a few days in war. “
“They use our despair,” said Youssef bitterly. “Nothing is more painful for a man than not being able to provide for his family. These places are now traps to death. It is not an aid. It’s an annihilation. “
Youssef said that the family, like many others, had lost all confidence in the new humanitarian mechanism. “We do not want this help soaked in blood. Let’s go back to the United Nations system. At least we were not killed while trying to eat. ”
Hunger, despair and death
The GHF, launched in May with the coordination of Israel, aimed to deliver food directly in the south of Gaza. However, its deliveries are not sent through traditional humanitarian agencies such as UNRWA, the United Nations Agency for Palestinian refugees, which Israel accused – without providing conclusive evidence – links with Hamas. Critics said that this exclusion had contributed to a breakdown in surveillance, coordination and security.
While Israel said that it facilitates aid deliveries and only targets the perceived threats, testimonies and reports paint a very different image.
Mustafa Nabil Abu Eid, 31, moved from Rafah to Al-Mawasi, returned from Rafah’s distribution point with his friend Abdullah Abu Ghali, 39. They wore a few bags of pasta, rice and lenses in their backpacks.
Mustafa described the trip as a “death trip”.
“We are traveling about 2 km (1.2 mile) just to reach the edge of the area,” he said. “Then we wait – hours sometimes – until the tanks come back. When they do it, we cross open ground. You don’t know if you will get food or you will be killed.”
He said he often asked why people are still going.
“There is no choice. If we stay in tents, we die from hunger, illness, bombing. If we go there, we could die, but we could also bring something back to our children. ”
Mustafa has five children. His elder, Saba, is 10 years old. His youngest – Twins Hoor and Noor – has just been three years old.
“They cry out of hunger. I can’t bear it. We are looking for life through death. “
Distribution of the death trap
Help agencies have warned that famine is already present in parts of Gaza. The integrated classification of the food security phase (IPC) reported in June that the whole population was facing acute food shortages with more than a million people at risk of famine. Children die from malnutrition and dehydration.
With severely limited UNRWA operations and the GHF offering limited, inconsistent and dangerous access to food, desperate civilians have no choice but to risk their lives for fundamental subsistence.
Since the American-Israeli initiative began on May 27, 39 people remain unable, presumed disappeared or killed near the aid areas, according to the Gaza government. Some have probably been buried in unmarked tombs or remain trapped under rubble or in an inaccessible land.
Call for responsibility
Systematic attacks on civilians on aid sites can constitute war crimes, according to international legal experts and human rights dogs. Under international humanitarian law, the parties to a conflict must ensure the protection of civilians and the without hindrance of humanitarian aid.
“The deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian objects, including humanitarian workers and distribution points, are strictly prohibited,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in a June press release said.
But for families like shaats and khatibs, legal classifications offer little comfort.
Asmahan clings to hope – that the name of his son will not be forgotten.
“He just wanted to feed his family,” she said. “He didn’t hurt anything. They killed him as his life did not mean anything. Tell the world: we are not figures. We are people and we die of hunger. ”
This play was published in collaboration with EGAB.
