A U.N. expert on Friday criticised U.S. efforts to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza, such as plans for a temporary port and recent air drops, which he said were “absurd” and “cynical” methods so long as military aid to Israel continues.

Amid warnings of looming famine five months into Israel’s campaign against the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, the U.S. military has carried out air drops of meals into Gaza and plans a temporary port for aid imports on its Mediterranean coast.

Air drops in particular “will do very little to alleviate hunger malnutrition, and do nothing to slow down famine,” Michael Fakhri, U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food, told reporters in Geneva.

He warned of chaos as starving people joust for supplies. As for the port, he said no one had asked for it. He called the port and air drops methods of “last resort”.

“The time when countries use air drops, and these maritime piers, is usually if not always, in situations when you want to deliver humanitarian aid into enemy territory,” he said.

  • Jim_Just_Jim@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    10 months ago

    “The time when countries use air drops, and these maritime piers, is usually if not always, in situations when you want to deliver humanitarian aid into enemy territory,”

    That should have spelled it out enough for those that don’t understand. Gaza is considered enemy territory as a direct result of Hamas actions. So the US is trying to help the innocent in a hostile environment.

      • Jim_Just_Jim@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        5
        ·
        10 months ago

        Israel could just quit holding a terrorist organization accountable for killing 1300 innocent people? That’s your solution? Where do you live?

      • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        11
        ·
        10 months ago

        … or Hamas could follow any international law, and stop doing terrorists attacks, stop actually targeting civilians indiscriminately and without warning or any pretext of a military objective. Like gtfo, Hamas is outmatched in every concievable way and their continued resort to war crimes and terrorism is the only reason anyone is dying in Gaza.

        Surrender is the honorable thing here and it’s what Hamas would do if it gave a single fuck about any dead body in Gaza. The fact of the matter is there is nothing more that Hamas loves to see than dead Palestinian kids, and that’s why they aren’t surrendering, preying on your delicate sensibilities and basic instinct.

    • orcrist@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      10 months ago

      We can wish for anything, but that doesn’t make it reality, or even realistically possible.