Israel, how the offensive cost an agreement with Spain and the collaboration of Bcg

The Israeli offensive on the humanitarian aid flowing into the Strip intensifies, while the international pressure on Tel Aviv grows with a double blow coming from Europe and the United States: the cancellation of a military agreement with the Spanish government and the withdrawal of a big name US consultant from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the private foundation that has been dealing with the distribution of goods in the enclave since the end of May. Yesterday, the authorities of the Strip, ruled by Hamas Islamists, reported the killing of at least 102 civilians in the space of eight days in attacks by Israeli armed forces near aid distribution counters administered by the Ghf.

In the 24 hours between 2 and 3 June alone, the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis received 35 casualties, including 27 civilians shot dead while seeking aid in the Rafah governorate, according to al-Jazeera. "Israel's new militarised collection points draw thousands of desperate people into death traps. There is no 'progress',' explains Bushra Khalidi, policy lead of Oxfam, an NGO, from Ramallah. The Israel Defence Forces reiterated a line already expressed in recent days, that of eliminating "suspects" who would get closer than necessary to the hubs of goods distributed by Ghf. "The (Israeli) forces fired warning shots, but since they did not disperse, more fire was opened on several approaching suspects," reads an army statement quoted by the English-language version of the Times of Israel, an Israeli daily with centrist leanings. Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, categorised the "violence" imputed to the IDF as "war crimes", in a lunge that matches the increasingly tense climate towards the Israeli offensive and the Ghz contracted aid distribution model. On the first front, the most abrupt rift took place with the government of Spain, one of the most explicit in the need to sever relations with Tel Aviv and 'decouple' its Spanish military industry from Israeli technologies. Madrid's Defence Ministry terminated an agreement with for an anti-tank missile system that was to be produced in Spain by Pap Tecnos, a local subsidiary of Israel's Rafael Advanced Defence System, suspending a 285 million euro licence for the delivery of 168 SPIKE LR2 devices.

In an email response to some questions, the Spanish Defence Ministry confirmed that a 'process of revocation of technology licences has begun and (that, ed.) a reorganisation of programmes is being studied' and that 'some solutions are being studied'. There are those who urge caution about the Spanish announcements, pointing out that military disconnection from Israel has often remained more on paper than in substance. Eduardo Melero, professor of law at the Delàs Centre for Peace, explains that Madrid's announcements should be 'greeted with scepticism. So far, the government has merely made fine speeches without really reducing military relations between Israel and Spain'.

On the second front, criticism of the aid model expressed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the philanthropic society registered in Switzerland and the US state of Delaware, is growing. Boston Consulting Group, a US consulting bigwig, has withdrawn its support for the work of Ghz. The exit was reported by the US newspaper Washington Post and confirmed to Sole 24 Ore by a Bcg spokesman. The company, says the spokesperson, had agreed to provide 'pro bono support to help establish a humanitarian organisation to work alongside multilateral efforts to provide humanitarian assistance in Gaza'. However, the ensuing work in Gaza was 'not accepted by the multilateral parties and was halted on 30 May. The Bcg has not been and will not be paid for this work'.

*This article is part of the Pulse project and was written in collaboration with El Confidencial.