European leaders and aid groups have criticised Israeli plans to take over distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza and use private companies to get food to families after two months in which the military has prevented supplies entering the Strip....U.N. agencies, aid groups and European leaders condemned Israel's plans, calling for the aid blockade to be lifted and for supplies to be distributed by humanitarian organisations that are not party to the conflict.
The UN and others have insisted that Gaza has remained occupied by Israel even after its withdrawal twenty years ago. But if they really believe that Gaza is occupied, then they have to agree that Israel - the occupying power - can provide aid to Gaza in whatever way it deems necessary.
This is what the Geneva Conventions say. Article 55:
To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population; it should, in particular, bring in the necessary foodstuffs, medical stores and other articles if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate.
Israel is the party primarily responsible to ensure the aid gets in. The UN and NGOs refusal to cooperate shows that they never really believed that Israel occupies Gaza.
Now Israel is proposing that areas in Gaza would be (re-)occupied, and if that happens, Israel does indeed have the responsibility to provide aid as long as it is not used to help Hamas (Article 23).
And even if Israel is occupying Gaza, it has every right to put conditions on the aid distribution. Commentary to Article 59:
The institution of measures for verifying and regulating the consignments follows logically from the foregoing provisions. Since the free passage of relief consignments represents an important exception to the measures enforcing the blockade, it is only right that the blockade authorities should have an opportunity of assuring themselves that the facilities granted are used only for strictly humanitarian purposes.The State granting free passage to consignments can check them in order to satisfy itself that they do in fact consist of relief supplies and do not contain weapons, munitions, military equipment or other articles or supplies used for military purposes.Their passage is regulated according to prescribed times and routes in such a way as to avoid hampering military operations and to conform to the maximum extent with security requirements.
When the UN says Israel cannot provide its own mechanism for providing aid, they are saying that Israel is not occupying Gaza.
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