Geneva - Saba:
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has criticized new plans proposed by the Israeli occupation and the United States to assume responsibility for the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, noting that they will exacerbate the suffering of Palestinian children and families in the Strip.
UNICEF spokesman James Elder said in a press statement on Saturday that the draft plan presented by the Israeli occupation to the aid community would exacerbate the ongoing suffering of children and families in the Gaza Strip.
Elder added that his statement also applies to the new organization, which he believes is part of the same expanded plan.
Aid organizations already reject any plans that would give the Israeli occupation a role in aid distribution in Gaza.
Elder said, "Using humanitarian aid as bait to force people to flee, especially from the north to the south, will leave them with an impossible choice: between displacement and death."
He continued, "There is a simple alternative: lifting the blockade and allowing humanitarian aid to enter to save lives."
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