US-backed aid mechanism poses threat to Gazans: NGO network

The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) warned on Tuesday the U.S.-backed aid distribution mechanism poses a threat to the lives of tens of thousands of hungry people in the Gaza Strip.

In a press statement, the PNGO said the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is "partnering with the (Israeli) occupation in targeting and killing civilians."

The statement said that the aid distribution mechanism aims to serve "the (Israeli) occupation's agenda of deepening and perpetuating the humanitarian crisis," stressing the need for concerted efforts to halt this mechanism and strengthen the humanitarian system, which includes United Nations agencies, as well as Palestinian and international NGOs.

The Israeli army on Tuesday morning killed at least 51 Palestinians waiting for aid in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Gaza-based health authorities said.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on the incident.

"Hungry and desperate people are being killed in Gaza while trying to get food for their families," The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media platform X on Tuesday.

"The aid distribution system that is safe and works at scale, one operated by the UN including UNRWA, must be reinstated," UNRWA said.

Humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza have repeatedly expressed their grave concern about the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in the Strip, noting that Gaza is facing a severe food crisis, with hundreds of thousands of residents dependent on humanitarian aid for their survival.