By Malik Mukhtar.
On May 15, seven-year-old Miran Mohammad was simply hoping for a bite of bread. A few moments later, her world collapsed—literally. An Israeli airstrike struck her home in Beit Lahia, crushing her tiny legs and her future beneath the rubble. She is just one of 17,000 children reportedly killed or wounded in Gaza since this war began. But her story is not just about bombs—it's about bureaucracy, control, and a deliberate policy that turns food into a weapon.
And now, with famine looming, a question screams through the smoke:
Why did Israel dismantle a successful, transparent U.N.-led humanitarian aid system—and replace it with chaos?
1. A Lifeline Destroyed
Until recently, UNICEF and other U.N. agencies were operating more than 400 aid distribution points across Gaza. These included door-to-door deliveries to displaced and starving families. Aid was registered, tracked, and accompanied to its destination. No system is perfect—but this one worked. It got baby formula into infants’ mouths. It put medicine in the hands of mothers. It fed the hungry.
Then Israel said Hamas was looting supplies and proposed a "solution": shut down the entire U.N. operation.
2. Enter the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation—A Disaster by Design
Israel's replacement? A new system controlled by an organization called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by private contractors and protected by Israeli soldiers. The setup is simple and brutal:
- Only 60 trucks per day—one-tenth the volume during the last ceasefire.
- A handful of distribution points, forcing civilians to travel across battle-scarred streets.
- Aid boxes barely adequate for survival—let alone recovery.
The result? Stampedes. Chaos. Death. This is not aid. It’s a cruel performance of control.
And even that crumbles under scrutiny: Jake Wood, head of GHF, resigned after public outcry and humanitarian criticism of its ineffectiveness. What does that tell us?
“The new mechanism is incompatible with humanitarian principles… and would likely doom Gaza’s children to more suffering and death.”
— Catherine Russell, Executive Director, UNICEF
3. Food as a Weapon, Civilians as Collateral
Israel justifies this policy shift by claiming Hamas steals aid. But evidence is scarce, and even if diversion occurred, the U.N. had already implemented tracking and secure distribution methods. So why override it?
Many believe the reason is darker: to control the flow of aid, to regulate suffering, and to weaponize starvation.
As multiple rights groups have noted, Israel has long managed food entry into Gaza to meet “calculated minimums.” That’s not relief. That’s siege. It is militarized humanitarianism—dehumanizing and unlawful.
4. Where Are We Headed? What Hope Remains?
The answer cannot be this: continued chaos, starvation, and the abandonment of Gaza’s children. The only path forward is one already known and proven:
- Restore the U.N.-led system.
- Allow sustained and safe access across all crossings.
- Respect humanitarian law.
- Agree to a ceasefire.
Until then, Gaza’s children will continue to die—not just from airstrikes, but from hunger, thirst, and deliberate policy.
We must ask:
- Who benefits from the failure of aid?
- Who profits from the illusion of control while babies starve?
- And why is the world still silent?
Miran wanted a piece of bread.
She got rubble and a lifetime of pain.
Let that haunt every decision-maker, every leader, and every complicit silence.
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