US aid policy on Gaza 'absurd' given military support for Israel, UN expert says
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.
