A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The U.S. is stepping up its support for a food program in Gaza that the United Nations has described as a death trap.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The Trump administration says it's allocating $30 million for that program. It comes at a moment when chaos is spreading in Gaza, where armed groups are now looting and attacking United Nations aid convoys.
MARTÍNEZ: Here to tell us more about this is NPR international correspondent Aya Batrawy in Dubai. And a warning that we will be talking about some graphic details of the violence in Gaza. Start off by just telling us about this plan and why the Trump administration is funding it.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Sure. It's a plan that Israel devised, and it works like this. A group calling itself the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation uses American contractors to distribute boxes of food in just four sites in Gaza. And these four sites are drawing thousands of hungry people every day, desperate for food. Now, Gaza's Health Ministry says hundreds of them have been killed and thousands wounded trying to reach these GHF sites since they began operations. This group, GHF, insists these shootings are not happening near their sites. But here's what State Department Tommy Pigott had to say yesterday.
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TOMMY PIGOTT: We see the $30 million approved. So that's what the story is here - moving to implement, get those creative solutions in there to make sure that the aid being distributed is not being looted by Hamas.
BATRAWY: And he called on other countries to join in funding GHF. But this week, a dozen human rights and legal groups warned that any countries or donors backing GHF are potentially liable for complicity in war crimes.
MARTÍNEZ: But why is it so deadly right now to get food there?
BATRAWY: You know, partly, it's because these GHF sites were put in military zones where Israeli troops are positioned and where Palestinians are not supposed to be. And so people are being shot in these red zones, and Israel's military says it's fired warning shots at crowds approaching troops, clearing them out. The military says it's reviewing and undergoing learning processes like building fences and expanding routes to these sites, but these daily shootings continue. Now, I want you to have a listen to American physician Dr. Adil Husain from Dallas. He's been volunteering in Gaza for the past two weeks. He tells me every day he's treating people shot near these GHF sites. He called it a horror movie on repeat.
ADIL HUSAIN: I can't tell you how many boys, young boys, and adults that get rushed into my resuscitation bay, bleeding out from their abdomen, bleeding out from their head. And when I'm exposing them, trying to look for their injuries, what I find is empty bags that they had only hoped to fill with food, just so that they could survive for a few more days.
BATRAWY: And, you know, he sent me photos this week of boys who've lost their eyes, boys who've been paralyzed, being shot by Israeli forces near these GHF sites.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow, that's difficult to hear. OK, so this plan by Israel and the U.S. is supposed to keep aid from reaching Hamas, but we're seeing these incidents of looting still happening in Gaza. So who's behind that?
BATRAWY: So there's hardly been a trickle of U.N. aid allowed into Gaza, and most of it's being looted by hungry people and armed clans. Now, Palestinians say a hundred and twenty aid trucks were stolen by armed clans in southern Gaza in just the past two days. Now, this comes as Israel has admitted to arming groups in Gaza to undermine Hamas, groups that are known for looting. But what we're seeing now is even more clans clashing with Hamas security officials who are trying to crack down on this looting and the price gouging of these stolen goods in the markets. Now, one of these clans actually raided Nasser Hospital, where Dr. Husain and other American doctors volunteer, and opened fire inside yesterday.
But we also yesterday saw Hamas security forces being targeted by an Israeli airstrike. The Gaza Health Ministry says 19 people were killed trying to get flour that these security forces had confiscated from the looters and were distributing to a crowd of people. Now, these security forces are under the interior ministry, which oversees the police. Israel's military has acknowledged throughout the war, targeting police in Gaza, saying they're an arm of Hamas. Hundreds have been killed. But Gaza's police say they're not part of any political or armed wing of Hamas. Ultimately, you know, this chaos and breakdown of order is happening after more than 20 months of war, as Hamas is also losing its grip on the territory.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR correspondent Aya Batrawy in Dubai. Thank you.
BATRAWY: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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