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- Global outrage at the Gaza crisis escalated after Israeli strike killed 7 workers of US-based charity
- The UN says at least 196 humanitarian workers have now been killed in the six-month-long聽Gaza聽war 聽
UNITED NATIONS: International aid groups said on Thursday there is nothing more they can do to protect staff in the Gaza Strip and that it is up to Israel to avoid killing them as the United Nations appealed for direct humanitarian coordination with the Israeli military.
Global outrage at the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave of 2.3 million people escalated after an Israeli airstrike on Monday killed seven people working for US-based food charity World Central Kitchen.
The UN says at least 196 humanitarian workers have now been killed in the six-month-long war as Israel retaliates against Hamas in Gaza over a deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group.
While some aid groups have suspended operations following the strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy on Monday, none have said they plan to withdraw from Gaza despite the repeated attacks on aid operations in Gaza. The United Nations warns a famine is imminent.
The UN has long complained of obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza.
鈥淓very day we are forced to decide whether to suspend an operation or to proceed with an operation 鈥� and often the decision is to suspend because we don鈥檛 have the proper security conditions in place,鈥� Scott Paul, associate director for peace and security at Oxfam America, told reporters.
The UN and international aid groups operating in Gaza said they share the locations of all premises and planned movements with the Israeli authorities and are in daily contact. The United States said on Tuesday that it was 鈥渦nacceptable and inexplicable鈥� that the Israeli military鈥檚 procedures to avoid harming aid workers were not functioning appropriately.
鈥淥ne of the things that would probably improve the system ... is for us to have the ability to have more direct contact with the military as opposed to going through a number of layers of military-civilian coordination as it does now,鈥� UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Thursday.
Israel鈥檚 Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that it would work to strengthen coordination, including by opening a joint situation room to coordinate between the Israeli military鈥檚 southern command and international aid organizations.
Israel also said on Thursday it would adjust war tactics.
鈥淭he rules of war require that those fighting always know the difference between military targets and humanitarian relief workers,鈥� said Bushra Khalidi, an Oxfam policy adviser.
鈥淚f there鈥檚 any ever any doubt, it鈥檚 on Israel to avoid harming us,鈥� she said, adding that aid groups make their staff as visible as possible in an effort to protect them.
Celebrity chef Jose Andres, who founded World Central Kitchen, told Reuters that Israel had targeted his aid workers 鈥渟ystematically, car by car.鈥� Israeli government spokesperson Raquela Karamson responded on Thursday: 鈥淭his was unintended.鈥�
Louise Bichet, head of the Middle East department for Doctors of the World/M茅decins du Monde, said her organization鈥檚 offices in Gaza City had been partly destroyed 鈥渆ven though we had clearly communicated our GPS coordinates and it was very well known by the Israeli army.鈥�
鈥淭his shows the failure of the deconfliction process and poses a serious question ... (about) the understanding and respect of IHL (international humanitarian law) by the state of Israel,鈥� she said.
The UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA 鈥� described by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza 鈥� said there has been more than 300 strikes on its facilities and 177 staff had been killed.
UNRWA said it had shared the coordinates of all of its facilities in Gaza with all parties to the conflict. Several aid convoys to northern Gaza had also been targeted despite detailed coordination with the Israeli military, UNRWA said.
Isabelle Defourny, president of Doctors Without Borders/M茅decins Sans Frontieres (MSF) France, said the humanitarian coordination system was not working and that she could not imagine how it could be improved when there was a 鈥渓ack of proportionality鈥� in how Israel was conducting the war.
鈥淭hey know where we are, what we do, where we will work,鈥� she said. 鈥淒espite that ... there are security incidents.鈥�