Israel says that it will not let aid back into Gaza unless shipments are screened for contraband.
Israel has blocked aid from entering Gaza for months. It now says that they will stop the blockade if two U.S. companies begin to filter the shipments.
Israel has appointed Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions to do this. They are two U.S.-based companies with “CIA backgrounds.” That should be enough to disqualify them for anything.
The Israeli cabinet has to approve this and politicians are worried that far-right supporters in Israel who want Gazans to starve will oppose it, according to The Jerusalem Post.
The United Nations says that this proposal is “untenable” because it “would allow military and political objectives to impede humanitarian goals, put restrictions on who is eligible to give and receive aid, and could force large numbers of Palestinians to move, which would violate international law.”
The United Nations hasn’t actually done anything other than condemn the situation for civilians in Gaza so it probably won’t matter what they say.
A lawyer for the U.S. State Department argued that Israel’s own security needs supersede the Geneva convention’s laws on providing aid to civilians.
