|
Trending Topics
|
Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-864759
Gaza Aid Requires Basic Anti-Terror Safeguards
(Jerusalem Post) Gerald M. Steinberg - In Gaza, aid has long been diverted to Hamas. UNRWA warehouses have doubled as weapons depots. Internationally supplied materials sent through NGOs have been stolen to build terror tunnels and thousands of rockets - every one a war crime. Food and fuel meant for civilians have been seized by terrorists. If Israel failed to vet humanitarian access, that would be the worst kind of negligence. Any responsible government confronting a heinous terror army must balance urgent humanitarian needs with the imperative to block supplies from fueling mass murder, sexual violence, torture, and hostage-taking. Many international NGOs in Gaza and the West Bank emphasize political advocacy over relief. Some of the world's most "respected" aid organizations - Amnesty International, Oxfam, World Vision, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) - have partnered with or defended groups linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terror organization. World Vision's Gaza manager was convicted of diverting tens of millions of dollars in aid to Hamas. Israel has recently revised the humanitarian visa and NGO registration process to require staff name disclosure. For years, NGOs submitted employee lists to Hamas authorities. They accepted this as the cost of operating in Gaza. Now they accuse Israel of authoritarian and arbitrary policies for asking them to provide the same information. Pretending aid flows can be protected from Hamas without strict oversight is a dangerous fantasy. Israel's updated NGO visa requirements, after years of NGO and UN oversight failure, is a necessary step to ensure that humanitarian actors are accountable, transparent, and subject to basic anti-terror safeguards. The writer is founder and president of NGO Monitor.