Gaza [Palestine], August 7 : The medical nonprofit Doctors Without Borders has urged an immediate end to Israel's militarised food distribution programme in Gaza, calling it a system of "institutionalised starvation and dehumanisation," Al Jazeera reported.
In a report released Thursday titled "This is not aid. This is orchestrated killing," the medical aid group said it operates clinics near two Global Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution sites in Rafah, southern Gaza, that are under Israeli military and US private contractor control.
According to Al Jazeera, Doctors Without Borders, better known by its French-language acronym MSF, said these sites, operational since May, have witnessed "stampedes, suffocating crowd surges, violent looting and lethal 'crowd control' measures".
"The GHF distribution sites fall dangerously short of any recognised standard for safe and dignified humanitarian distributions," the report said. "Nowhere else in the world where MSF operates - including in the most volatile conflict zones - would this level of violence around an 'aid distribution' site be tolerated. This must stop now."
MSF said its teams were "mentally prepared for responding to conflict - but not to civilians killed and maimed while seeking aid."
According to Al Jazeera, the nonprofit noted that its primary care clinics have turned into mass casualty units since GHF took over aid distribution.
Between June and July, MSF received 1,380 injured people and 28 bodies at its clinics in Gaza's al-Attar and al-Mawasi areas, located near the two GHF sites, Al Jazeera reported.
Of those treated, 174 suffered gunshot wounds, including women and children. "A significant number of patients from GHF sites in Khan Younis arrived with gunshot wounds to their lower limbs bearing a precision that strongly suggests intentional targeting of people within the distribution sites, rather than accidental or indiscriminate fire," the report said.
Al Jazeera further cited MSF, stating that patients also sustained injuries from "crowd control" measures like pepper spray and physical assault. Many arrived covered in dust and sand, "from time spent lying on the ground while taking cover from bullets."
"People are being shot like animals," an MSF coordinator said in the report. "They're not armed. They're not soldiers. They're civilians carrying plastic bags, hoping to bring home some flour or pasta. And my question is: how high is the price they have to pay for one bag of food?"