In an article published on the DR website, he confirmed Red Cross Denmark He said he would not work with a new aid organization in Gaza: “That is not what people support us for.”.
Objections from well-known organizations to the new plan
Many aid organizations do not understand why the United States and Israel are proposing to create a new organization to handle the distribution of aid to needy citizens in Gaza. When there is a need to expedite the distribution of blankets, tents, and food rations in Gaza, it is not certain that the men and women wearing light blue UN jackets will be the ones to carry out this task, nor even those who carry the Red Cross or Red Crescent on their backs, according to the DR website.
The US administration, with support from Israel, has said that a completely new system must be established for how emergency aid is delivered to the war-torn region, according to the source.
“"This is provocative."”
“This is provocative, to say the least,” the Secretary General of the Danish Red Cross, Anders Ladekarl, told DR, because there are already many existing organizations seizing the opportunity to deliver vital goods to the needy people of Gaza: “All the aid organizations have full warehouses just a three-hour drive from Gaza. We have 400 distribution points and a large number of volunteers and staff ready to distribute relief aid.”
The emergence of a new aid organization and strong criticism
On February 11 of this year, a mysterious private organization called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) suddenly appeared in Geneva. Many have noted that the organization’s founding principles are largely consistent with the plans announced earlier this month by the Americans – led by Ambassador Mike Huckabee.
This is the organization that is currently under heavy criticism from many long-established relief organizations, and the GHF plan differs from other emergency relief plans in several areas, according to the source.
The US ambassador rejects the criticism.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee rejects criticism of the new emergency aid plan. While the UN and the Red Cross plan to distribute emergency aid in hundreds of locations in Gaza, the new organization will establish very few distribution centers, which will be secured by a private security guard, with Israeli army personnel located a little further away.
These two points prompted the United Nations to criticize the plan.
Contradictory statements by the US ambassador
Since there are only four or five places to get emergency aid, many Gaza residents will have to travel a long way, and that is the criticism.
This contradicts what Ambassador Huckabee said during a press conference earlier this month, when he stated that logistical planning indicated there would not be a long distance to the distribution point, without going into details, according to DR.
The ambassador also clearly ignored UN concerns that the guard, who belongs to the Israeli Defense Forces, could pose a danger to Gaza residents: “The greatest danger, the most important danger, is that people will die of hunger. That is the danger.”
“A pretext for further militarization”
Anders Ladekarl fears that the idea of setting up a few large relief centers will not only mean that people will have to walk long distances to get food or a roof over their heads, but it will also practically mean that Israel will have influence over where the population is located in Gaza. He tells DR that “in this way, Israel can control Gaza as an occupying power.” He also does not give much credence to the argument of the new plan that all the controls and guards are in place to keep aid out of the hands of Hamas: “From my point of view, it is just a pretext for further militarizing and politicizing aid,” Anders Ladekarl, Secretary General of the Danish Red Cross, told DR.
“We will insist on distributing the aid ourselves.”
In response to a question from DR about whether it is better for Gaza to receive food rather than be deprived of it, Anders Ladekarl, Secretary General of the Danish Red Cross, replied: “No, if that means the continuation of the war and its use as a tool of war. We will insist on distributing the aid ourselves. This (new plan) is not what people support the Red Cross for.”
The new organization will begin its work at the end of the month.
According to DR, Israel has already eased its blockade, and the first trucks loaded with life-saving food have crossed the border into Gaza, but international organizations criticize the relief efforts as being too meager.
To date, traditional aid organizations remain responsible for providing emergency assistance. According to the plan, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will resume its operations by the end of May, but this may not be possible without the support of several existing aid organizations, according to the source.
