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JERUSALEM: A group of 169 aid organizations called for an end to a US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution scheme in Gaza after repeated reports of people being killed while seeking rations.
The NGOs urged a return to the UN-led aid mechanism that existed in the war-torn territory until March, when Israel imposed a full blockade on humanitarian assistance entering Gaza during an impasse in truce talks with Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“NGOs call for immediate action to end the deadly Israeli distribution scheme (including the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) in Gaza,” the organizations wrote in a joint statement Monday.
They urged action to “revert to the existing UN-led coordination mechanisms, and lift the Israeli government’s blockade on aid and commercial supplies.”
The US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been tasked with distributing aid in the Palestinian territory since late May, when the two-month blockade was partially eased after mounting international condemnation and warnings of imminent famine.
GHF operations have since been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on those waiting to collect rations in the territory, where the Israeli military is seeking to destroy Hamas.
The signatories to Monday’s statement included NGOs from Europe, the United States and Israel working in medical assistance, hunger relief, development and human rights.
They said more than 500 Palestinians were killed and almost 4,000 injured while trying to access or distribute food in less than four weeks. The Hamas-ruled territory’s health ministry has given similar figures.
“Under the Israeli government’s new scheme, starved and weakened civilians are being forced to trek for hours through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones, only to face a violent, chaotic race to reach fenced, militarized distribution sites,” the statement read.
Aid distribution in Gaza was traditionally coordinated through various NGOs and UN agencies, notably the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, which had 13,000 staff in the coastal enclave before the war.
Israel said it tasked GHF with distribution in Gaza to keep Hamas from controlling the flow of aid.
The Israeli military last week denied a newspaper report that cited Israeli soldiers as saying they had been ordered to fire at civilians near aid centers.
It said in a statement that it was “operating to allow and facilitate the distribution of humanitarian aid” by GHF, “and to secure the routes leading to the distribution centers, in order to allow the aid to reach the civilians rather than Hamas.”
It added that it was examining “reports of incidents of harm to the civilians approaching the distribution centers.”

DUBAI: Dubai commuters may soon have a new way to skip traffic: air taxis.
Joby Aviation conducted the first test flight of its fully-electric air taxi in the emirate this week, a major milestone in the city’s efforts to integrate airborne transport into existing mobility networks as early as next year.
Joby hopes its air-taxis will ease pressure on existing ground transportation and offer travelers a faster alternative as Dubai faces increasing congestion.
“We want to change the way people commute,” Anthony Khoury, Joby’s UAE General Manager, said.
A journey from Dubai’s main airport DXB to Palm Jumeirah aboard the Joby Aerial Taxi will take roughly twelve minutes, the company predicts, as opposed to 45 minutes by car.
While Joby’s long-term ambition is to make its aerial taxis “affordable for everybody to use,” Khoury says, they acknowledge early pricing will likely target higher-income travelers. “As with any novel technology, early days might be a bit more premium.”
The demonstration flight was held on Monday at an isolated desert site southeast of Dubai’s downtown and was designed to emulate a typical aerial taxi journey, according to Joby Aviation officials.
In a ceremony attended by senior government officials, transport executives and company representatives, the experimental aircraft executed a vertical takeoff, flew for several miles, and then returned for a vertical landing.
The Joby Aerial Taxi, the flagship electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developed by the California-based company, can fly distances of up to 160 kilometers (100 miles) at speeds reaching 320km/hr (200mph).
Fully electric, with zero operating emissions, Joby’s air-taxi is designed to be both eco-friendly and quiet enough for commercial use in dense urban areas.
“It will be flying in the city, next to residential areas, and hopefully people will barely notice it,” Khoury said. While eVTOLs such as Joby’s have been hailed as the future of urban air the industry still faces major hurdles — including securing regulatory approval and developing sufficient vertiport infrastructure.
Morgan Stanley downgraded Joby’s stock price target from $10 to $7 in April, flagging near-term execution risks and broader aerospace industry concerns, including tariffs and supply-chain issues. Joby is currently trading at $10.55.
In early 2024, Joby signed a contract with Dubai’s Roads and Transit Authority that awarded the company exclusive rights to operate aerial taxis in the city for the next six years.
The company plans to inaugurate the emirate’s commercial air-taxi service in 2026, with four initial vertiports located at Dubai International Airport (DXB), Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Downtown and Dubai Marina.
“In aviation, you don’t see transformations like this,” said Didier Papadopoulos, Joby’s President of Original Equipment Manufacturing.
“Every once in a while, you have this propulsive move into the future. What you’re witnessing here is really exciting, and I’m excited for you to be riding this one point in the future.”