MSF: Israel Using Limited Gaza aid as ‘Smokescreen’ to Continue Siege

Date: 23 May 2025 - 23:19

News ID: ۱۳۹۸۴۳

GAZA (Dispatches) – Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has accused the Zionist regime of allowing only a limited amount of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as “a smokescreen to pretend the siege is over”.
“As people remain in desperate need of medical care and assistance, Israeli authorities must stop the deliberate asphyxiation of Gaza and the annihilation of its healthcare system, which is underpinning their campaign of ethnic cleansing,” MSF said in a statement.
While Israeli authorities claimed that 100 aid trucks entered the besieged enclave, Reuters reported that aid officials and local sources said supplies had not reached Gaza’s soup kitchens, bakeries, markets, or hospitals.
“None of this aid - which is a very limited number of trucks - has reached the Gaza population,” said Antoine Renard, country director for the World Food Programme.
Renard added that thousands of tonnes of food and other essentials are currently waiting near the crossing points into Gaza. However, without proper distribution, approximately a quarter of the population remains at risk of famine.
Pascale Coissard, MSF’s emergency coordinator in Khan Younis, said the decision to allow in such small amounts of aid after months of a total siege signals the Zionist regime’s “intention to avoid accusations of starving people in Gaza, while in fact keeping them barely surviving”.
“This plan is a way to instrumentalize aid, turning it into a tool to advance Israeli military objectives,” Coissard added.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the delay was due to Israeli requirements, which are complicating the entry of the limited number of aid trucks. The process involves offloading supplies on the Palestinian side and reloading them separately once UN access within Gaza is secured.
Palestinians across Gaza are experiencing worsening conditions and say the promises of aid are nothing more than media illusions.
According to UN estimates, at least 600 lorries per day are required to begin addressing Gaza’s severe humanitarian crisis.
Dujarric said while the arrival of aid was a positive sign, it was “a drop in the ocean” compared to what is needed.
Amid a severe shortage of aid, the Israeli military has intensified its attacks on civilians, aid distribution points, healthcare facilities and shelters.
MSF warned that expanded military aggression and expulsion orders have made it increasingly difficult for Gaza’s population to access medical care.