Martin Griffiths, the former head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, says Israel’s recent attacks on Gaza are “the worst” that have been experienced in the conflict so far.
“It is worse than ever,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that this is visible in the daily death toll in the enclave.
He said what is going on in Gaza is “unequivocally weaponisation of aid to create starvation and children are dying because of it”.
“There is no way you can look at it in any other way,” Griffiths, who is currently with private diplomacy firm Mediation Group International, stressed.
He said the amount of aid that recently went into the enclave is “tiny”, and it was kept in the south, adding that it is part of Israel and the US’s new plan for aid distribution. He stressed that the aid is kept in the south to draw people from the north to make a “dangerous journey”.
“Surely IDF (Israeli army) will check identities, and actually it is going to be a one-way trip,” Griffiths said. “It is aid with displacement, it is aid with victimisation, and not enough aid anyway.”