Middle East: NGOs in Crisis from Gaza to Libya

Following the Israeli air attack on Tuesday, April 2 that killed seven workers of the World Central Kitchen NGO in Gaza, in the city of Deir al-Balah, the Spanish Spreading Embrace NGO announced “the suspension of its humanitarian operations in Gaza.”

The Spreading Embrace NGO sent a shipload of humanitarian aid to Gaza through the maritime humanitarian corridor promoted by the European Commission.

But on April 4, the NGO said “the ship carrying the first aid has returned to the port of Cyprus, from which it left, and will not resume its humanitarian mission because of the attack suffered by World Central Kitchen.”

The Spreading Embrace ship managed to bring 200 tons of food to Gaza, supplied by World Central Kitchen. Spreading Embrace wrote in a press release that “the attack carried out by the Israel Defense Forces was a painful turning point in efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.”

Also on Thursday, off the coast of Libya, another non-governmental organization, Mediterranea Saving Humans (MSH), reported an attack by the Libyan Coast Guard as it rescued dozens of refugees in international waters. Denny Castiglione, head of the MSH mission, said the NGO ship Mare Yonio “was attacked by the Libyan coast guard, armed militias, funded and trained by Italy and the European Union to stop migrants.”

“Libyan militias,” Castiglione said, “fired into the water and into the air, causing panic and resulting in several people falling into the water. The Mare Yonio ship finally managed to rescue a total of 58 migrants, but it is unknown how many more are still missing after the attack.”