New Report: Israel Systematically Attacked Aid Workers

And an update on detained Gaza surgeon Khaled Alser

Screenshot: Fault Lines/“Starving Gaza”

An investigation by the open-source research group Forensic Architecture, in partnership with Al Jazeera’s Fault Lines program, reveals new evidence that Israel has systematically and deliberately attacked aid workers and sites of humanitarian assistance in Gaza. The findings come as part of a harrowing 25-minute Fault Lines documentary, released today and titled “Starving Gaza.” You can watch the film here.

Fault Lines conducted more than 20 interviews with United Nations staff, aid workers, and former U.S. officials, who described the various ways in which Israel restricts aid from entering Gaza. Stacy Gilbert, an official who worked at the State Department for more than 20 years, resigned in May after the Biden administration released a report stating that Israel was not blocking humanitarian assistance. She spoke at length with the Fault Lines team, calling that determination “patently, demonstrably false.”

When aid does make it into Gaza, Israel also creates deadly obstacles for the civilians who need it. Data examined by Forensic Architecture and Fault Lines unearthed more than 40 attacks by Israel on people seeking aid, as well as attacks on key infrastructure for the distribution of food and medicine, including schools and bakeries. 

“As we looked into more of these attacks, we started to see they were systematic in nature and not arbitrary,” Peter Polack, a researcher for Forensic Architecture, told Fault Lines. 

Researchers geolocated and mapped videos of Palestinians in Gaza who had been targeted under similar circumstances. They found that the attacks were concentrated at locations where civilians would gather to receive aid. The consistency of these military attacks indicated they were intentional, according to researchers. 

Forensic Architecture also documented 16 attacks on bakeries between October and November 2023, including places where civilians were lining up to receive bread, as well as the destruction of more than 100 shelters that distributed humanitarian aid in just three months. In early 2024, Israel began attacking the civil service workers and police officers who escorted humanitarian convoys, prompting the U.N.’s World Food Program to temporarily suspend its operations. 

“When flour is distributed to bakeries, bakeries are targeted. When aid starts to be distributed to schools, then schools become the target,” said researcher Júlia Nueno Guitart. 

By working with reporters in Gaza, the Fault Lines documentary team was able to offer a rare look at the disturbing, on-the-ground impacts of Israel’s choice to block humanitarian aid, which has created one of the worst manmade famines of the 21st century. Within the first five minutes, “Starving Gaza” shows footage of children dying from malnourishment. “There was no formula available for ten days. It was totally out. So my son suffered from severe dehydration,” one mother told Fault Lines. “I have never been this worried in my life.” The film shows her infant, hooked up to tubes and wires, receiving urgent CPR from a doctor. She watches as her child passes away. At least 32 people, including 28 children, have died from malnutrition in Gaza since October 2023. UNRWA says another 50,000 malnourished children require immediate medical attention. 

“We should not get used to this,” Dr. Ahmed Nasser told Fault Lines. “We should reject this genocide, this tragedy, on a daily basis.”

Screenshot: Fault Lines/”Starving Gaza”

We’re ending today’s newsletter with some rare positive news: Dr. Khaled Alser, the Gaza general surgeon who has been in Israeli captivity since March, is now free, his friends and family report. We reported earlier on Alser’s case and his co-authored article in The Lancet, published while he was in detention. Many of you signed a petition we put together urging his freedom. It felt hopeless, but now he’s out, after a brutal ordeal.

“Words cannot describe my feelings after speaking with my brother Dr. Khaled Alser just moments ago, now free,” his brother Haitam Alser said on Instagram. “Brother, seeing your face tells the painful story of suffering and cruelty, but you are stronger and greater than their crimes.”

haitamalserr

A post shared by @haitamalserr

He added: “Thank you to everyone who contributed and worked tirelessly to apply international and media pressure on the occupation to halt its atrocities. There is still so much more to do to relieve the suffering of thousands of kidnapped Palestinians. We continue to hope for freedom for all Palestinian hostages held in the occupation's prison camps.”

Of course, the work doesn’t end. Israel recently detained Mujahed al-Saadi, a well-known journalist in the region who recently filed a Jenin dispatch for Drop Site. He’s been hit with six months of administrative detention, which means Israel doesn’t have to bring any charges or accuse him of anything. We’ve now launched a petition urging the State Department to demand his freedom. 

Correction: The piece incorrectly attributed a quote in the final paragraph to Stacy Gilbert. The comment was actually made by Dr. Ahmed Nasser and the piece has been updated.