NICOSIA (Reuters) -France’s foreign minister said on Thursday a U.S. and Israel-backed aid distribution system in Gaza had generated a “bloodbath” and had to cease activity.
“I want to call for the cessation of the activities of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the militarised distribution of humanitarian aid that has generated a bloodbath in distribution lines in Gaza, which is a scandal, which is shameful, and has to stop,” Foreign and European Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters after meeting his Cyprus counterpart in Nicosia.
A global hunger monitor said on Tuesday that a famine scenario was unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with malnutrition soaring, children under five dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access severely restricted.
The U.N. estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food since May, most near militarised distribution sites of the GHF, which employs a U.S. logistics firm run by a former CIA officer and armed U.S. veterans. The GHF denies that there have been deadly incidents at its sites, and says the deadliest have been near other aid convoys.
The Israeli military has acknowledged that civilians have been harmed by its gunfire near distribution centres, and says its forces have now received better instructions. Israel accuses Hamas fighters of stealing aid – which the militants deny – and the U.N. of failing to prevent it. The U.N. says it has not seen evidence of Hamas diverting much aid. Hamas accuses Israel of causing starvation and using aid as a weapon.
Barrot said France would carry out four humanitarian flights carrying 10 tons each of aid from Friday into Gaza in cooperation with Jordan.
Cyprus was briefly a staging point for about 22,000 tons of pre-screened aid sent to Gaza by sea in 2024 via a short-lived U.S.-built landing jetty. Some 1,200 tonnes of aid is still on the island, awaiting delivery when conditions allow, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said.
(Reporting by Michele Kambas; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
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