Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Two were martyred in an initial toll of the Israeli drone strike that targeted the al-Asira neighborhood in the city of Baalbek, eastern Lebanon
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: An Israeli drone strike targeted the al-Asira neighborhood east of Baalbek, eastern Lebanon
Sheikh Naim Qassem to the pager attack survivors: You are the greatest resistance. Know that 'Israel' will fall because it embodies aggression, crime, and occupation; victory is truly yours
Sheikh Qassem to the pager attack survivors: The value of what you are doing despite your wounds is immense, and here you are, treading the path of the Master of Nation's Martyrs and the leaders
Sheikh Qassem to the pager attack survivors: You are moving forward with insight deeper than sight itself. The enemy sought to eliminate your role in the battle, yet you remain steadfast and continue the fight
Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem to the pager attack survivors one year later: You are healing from your wounds and rising above them. You have successfully passed the test
Palestinian media: Reports of stabbing operation in occupied al-Quds.
Israeli media: Sirens blare in Arava in South, near Ramon Airport.
Egyptian PM Mostafa Madbouli: Egypt is targeted in plans to redraw regional map
AEOI Chief Mohammad Eslami: Our presence in IAEA General Council and fact-checking helped in preventing unilateral rhetoric that aims to portray Iran as an unregulated country

MSF, Amnesty, others accuse 'Israel' of impeding aid delivery in Gaza

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 20 Feb 2024 23:12
4 Min Read

Avril Benoit, executive director of MSF-USA, warned that a potential invasion of Rafah could result in catastrophic consequences, turning the southern Gaza city into a "graveyard" and worsening the risk of famine.

  • x
  • Palestinian emergency services look for survivors after an Israeli strike on a residential building in Rafah, Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)
    Palestinian emergency services look for survivors after an Israeli strike on a residential building in Rafah, Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)

At a press briefing by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Refugees International, Oxfam, Amnesty International, and other groups, Avril Benoit, executive director of MSF-USA, told reporters that a potential invasion of the city of Rafah could transform the southern Gaza City into a "graveyard" and exacerbate the imminent risk of famine.

"The consequences of a full-scale assault on Rafah are truly unimaginable," Benoit told reporters. "Carrying out a military offensive there would turn it into a graveyard."

The city of Rafah, which currently houses 1.4 million Palestinians in tent camps and shelters, is the "end of the line," Benoit said. 

"It's the last hub of healthcare services and humanitarian assistance for the people in Gaza," she said. "Attacking Rafah effectively means cutting off the lifelines of people who have already lost everything except their lives."

Aid delivery impeded by Israeli aggressions

Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International, stated that due to Israeli strikes, it has become "virtually impossible" for humanitarian organizations to operate safely within Gaza, thereby increasing the risk of famine.

"People, mostly at this point in the north, are already right on the brink of famine," Konyndyk said. "The risk here, if there is not a meaningful humanitarian operation allowed to operate in an unfettered way at scale throughout Gaza, is famine."

"And that famine will occur not because of any natural phenomenon but simply because of the manner in which this war is being conducted and the persistent and intentional denials of humanitarian access principally by the Israeli government."

Konyndyk also highlighted that the idea of safely evacuating the population of Rafah is a "mirage," as there are no other safe destinations available for them.

Read more: UN agencies warn of 'explosion' in Gaza child deaths

Related News

UN Investigator Pillay: Accountability for Gaza genocide is possible

Erdogan: Netanyahu ‘ideologically like a relative of Hitler’

Ceasefire sole solution to crisis

Benoit said that MSF teams on the ground witness patients unable to access necessary medical care due to ongoing attacks on healthcare facilities, and called on the US and other nations to push for a ceasefire.

"A ceasefire is the only way to prevent more deaths and suffering in Gaza," she said. "Our teams on the ground continue to witness patients unable to access the medical care they need due to repeated and persistent attacks on healthcare facilities and their surroundings."

"One of our doctors in Rafah recently told us that she's writing the names of her children on their arms and legs so that they can be identified easily if killed in a bombing," she said.

World Food Programme cuts aid in northern Gaza

Earlier in the day, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced it had suspended aid supplies to the northern parts of Gaza after a convoy of trucks was reportedly looted.

The agency said that a convoy that was on its way to the north after a three-week halt "faced complete chaos and violence due to the collapse of civil order."

The agency is well aware that food and water are already scarce, and the situation in the Strip exposes "unprecedented levels of desperation," as reported by its teams.

WFP said it planned to deploy trucks of food daily for seven days, but on Sunday the convoy had to 'fend off' the starving residents' attempts to "climb aboard our trucks, then facing gunfire once we entered Gaza City."

"Several trucks were looted... and a truck driver was beaten. The remaining flour was spontaneously distributed off the trucks in Gaza City amidst high tension and explosive anger," it added.

The WFP stated that it was compelled to halt the deliveries "until conditions are in place that allow for safe distributions," adding that the decision was not taken lightly because it "means the situation there will deteriorate further and more people risk dying of hunger".

Read more: 'Israel' destroys Gaza UNRWA rehab center for visually impaired

As part of efforts to phase out aid in the Strip, "Israel" has been boycotting crucial aid agencies, including UNRWA, which has been the subject of unfounded accusations by the Israeli regime.

Last Saturday, in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Tamedia, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini stated that the Israeli regime had been actively working on dismantling the agency and that these efforts were part of a "concerted campaign" with long-term political goals.

  • genocide in Gaza
  • MSF
  • war on Gaza
  • Israeli aggression
  • Rafah
  • Médecins Sans Frontières
  • Gaza
  • Refugees International
War on Gaza

War on Gaza

Most Read

Why is Choose Love using a firm with British and US intelligence connections to run a pro-Palestine musical event? (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Together for Palestine: Troubling questions about the organisers of this huge event

  • Opinion
  • 17 Sep 2025
Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza.

Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza

  • Politics
  • 12 Sep 2025
A screengrab from the ad played on Fox News. (X Screengrab)

Fox airs ad warning Trump not to let Netanyahu 'play' him on Gaza

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025
Lapid: Egypt’s Arab Force plan a 'severe blow' to normalization

Lapid: Egypt’s Arab Force plan a 'severe blow' to normalization

  • Palestine
  • 14 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
A Hezbollah supporter who lost his sight in a pager attack carried out by "Israel" on Sept. 17, 2024, covers his eyes with a red headband inscribed with the name "Hussein" during Ashoura, July 6, 2025 (AP)
Politics

'We Have Recovered': Lebanon marks 1st anniversary of Pager Attack

The Arab neighborhood of El Za'im, on the outskirts of east Occupied Al-Quds in the West Bank, near where Israeli government says housing units will be built as part of the E1 settlement project, Thursday, August 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Palestine

'Israel’s' deliberate policies drive West Bank economy toward collapse

Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Politics

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder resigns over parent company curbing activism

Trump’s approval rating falls to new low in second term: Poll
US & Canada

Trump’s approval rating falls to new low in second term: Poll

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS