ALBAWABA - The U.S. and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) says that all U.S.-linked aid delivery centers in Gaza have been shut down permanently after an explosion that hurt two American aid workers. The event happened as tensions were building and more people were criticizing the foundation's work in the besieged area.
The GHF said on Saturday that the two American staff members were hurt but not seriously in an attack on a food delivery site in Khan Younis, which is in the southern part of Gaza. Early reports say that two attackers threw hand grenades at the workers near the end of a job distributing food. The Americans who were hurt are currently in stable health and getting medical care.
The centers were shut down after weeks of growing complaints. The Gaza Ministry of Interior had warned the public not to go near the GHF just two days before, calling it a "trap for mass death and humiliation" and saying it regularly violated people's rights. The Ministry said it would not do business with the group and told people and groups in and outside of Gaza not to work with the GHF or its agents in any way.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority confirmed that the American troops were hurt and said that the Israeli military has begun an investigation into what happened with the explosion.
Along with an effort by the US and Israel to send humanitarian aid to Gaza, the GHF has been working without the UN since May 27. Violence, on the other hand, has harmed the project. Many Palestinians have been killed and hurt when Israeli forces opened fire on them while they were gathering near GHF aid points. Human rights groups call this a brutal operation that forces civilians to choose between going hungry or dying.
United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) says that since the GHF aid project began, at least 500 Palestinians have died and about 4,000 have been hurt while trying to get food. Reports of shootings, arrests, and chaos around the distribution sites every day have only made people want an international investigation and the return of humanitarian control led by the UN.
The attack on the American workers is a new step in the rising backlash against the GHF. In Gaza, more and more people see their presence as a sign of foreign control and suffering.
