5:56 p.m. ET, March 8, 2024
Doctors Without Borders calls US plan for temporary aid pier in Gaza a "glaring distraction" from real problem
From CNN's Niamh Kennedy and Richard Roth
Medical NGO, Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), called
the US plan to build a temporary pier to deliver aid by sea to Gaza a "glaring distraction" from the reality of what's happening there.
"The US plan for a temporary pier in Gaza to increase the flow of humanitarian aid is a glaring distraction from the real problem: Israel’s indiscriminate and disproportionate military campaign and punishing siege," said Avril Benoît, US executive director of MSF.
Benoît went on to say that US efforts should instead be placed on pressuring Israel to allow increased food and medical aid into Gaza by road.
"This is not a logistics problem; it is a political problem. Rather than look to the US military to build a work-around, the US should insist on immediate humanitarian access using the roads and entry points that already exist," Benoît said.
Benoît reiterated MSF's view that a ceasefire "is the only way to ensure a real scale up in emergency assistance" to Gaza.
More than 30,000 Gazans have been killed and 70,000 injured since the start of the war, the enclave's health ministry says. Gaza's health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters, but has said in recent updates that around 70% of the casualties are women and children.
CNN reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for reaction to Benoît's comments, but has not yet heard back.
Israel has previously rejected accusations that it has indiscriminately bombed Gaza, saying its air force has carried out a "precise" and "focused" campaign. Israel has also claimed its objective is to dismantle Hamas after the militant group carried out the October 7 attack that left over 1,200 dead.