JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
President Trump continued his visit to the Middle East today, saying today that Gaza should become a, quote, "freedom zone," doubling down on his proposal for Palestinians to leave the devastated coastal enclave. His remarks came as his administration is working on a new plan to deliver aid to Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has blocked the entry of all food, fuel and medicine for over 10 weeks. It accuses Hamas of stealing aid that was meant for civilians. The U.S. says its proposed solution will address Israel's concerns, but experts say it could change the face of humanitarian response in conflict zones. NPR's Fatma Tanis explains.
FATMA TANIS, BYLINE: It's called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a newly created private charity based in Switzerland. And the State Department says that group will be ushering in a new system of aid distribution in the Gaza Strip, where the need for food, water and medicine is immense. This week, a report by famine experts concluded that 1 in 5 people in Gaza face starvation. Kate Phillips-Barrasso is with Mercy Corps.
KATE PHILLIPS-BARRASSO: If something does not change immediately in terms of getting a significant amount of assistance into the Gaza Strip, people will be dying, I believe, in greater numbers in the coming months.
TANIS: But the United Nations and other major aid groups are warning that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation plan goes against the basic humanitarian principles of independence. Dr. Mohammad Darwish coordinated humanitarian response in Syria and Lebanon, and now teaches at Johns Hopkins University.
MOHAMMAD DARWISH: The new entity would reflect the foreign policy of the U.S. rather than the local humanitarian needs.
TANIS: U.S. officials say the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation would distribute food and hygiene kits from four sites in the south of Gaza and could serve up to 60% of the Palestinians there. The distribution sites would be staffed by private security groups in zones secured by the Israeli military.
THOMAS WEISS: I suppose, you know, a few people will be vaccinated, a few people will have tents and a few people will be fed, but on balance, I think it's a very, very bad idea.
TANIS: That's Thomas Weiss, expert on humanitarian intervention. The U.N. and other aid groups have said the plan effectively weaponizes humanitarian response. It would push hungry Palestinians in the north to move south in order to reach the few aid distribution centers and also force them to regularly pass through Israeli checkpoints. Both would accelerate Israel's war goals in Gaza, these groups say.
WEISS: It's part of a not-too-subtle plan, in my view, of humanitarian-assisted ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
TANIS: Israel has said it wants to move civilians into, quote, "sterile zones" in the south for their own protection while it fights to eliminate Hamas in the north. But Weiss says it would be unprecedented for the United States to be involved in such a project and would bring about the destruction of international humanitarian values that have been in place since the late 19th century. It could create a new model where warring factions control aid as a tool of war.
WEISS: And that would probably be the worst of all outcomes because the humanitarian enterprise is supposed to be set up between or among armed belligerents (ph) and not favoring one in order to further its cause.
TANIS: NPR requested comment from the White House but did not receive a response. Experts don't see the Trump administration's controversial plan for Gaza as a one-off that would be confined to that conflict. Since the dismantling of USAID, the U.S. no longer has its own overseas aid mechanism and will likely increasingly rely on contractors like armed security groups who may not be trained in humanitarian work. Other countries are likely to follow suit, Darwish says.
DARWISH: It will enable countries to redefine humanitarian coordination based on foreign policy rather than humanitarian needs.
TANIS: Institutions such as the U.N. and the International Committee of the Red Cross would be weakened, and militaries would have a stronger hand. Weiss says it will be a new world.
Fatma Tanis, NPR News.
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