Canadian charity pauses Gaza aid after U.S.-backed group takes over distribution [Video]

A Canadian charity says it has suspended the distribution of some 38,000 boxes of food to the Gaza Strip, fearing the aid would never reach the Palestinians who need it due to controls imposed by a controversial, new U.S.-backed entity.

“Human Concern International has made a difficult but principled decision” to pause delivery of 17 “fully loaded” aid trucks, said the group’s chief programs officer Iftikhar Shaikh Ahmad at a news conference on Parliament Hill Thursday morning.

The aid group and others are pushing Ottawa to enact sanctions against Israel.

“Gaza Humanitarian Foundation were not abiding by humanitarian principles,” Ahmad told CBC News, referring to the company now charged with distributing aid in Gaza.

WATCH | Aid groups call for sanctions on Israel: Speaking from the House of Commons West Block Thursday, Human Concern International’s Chief Programs Officer Iftikhar Shaikh Ahmad; Save the Children’s Humanitarian Director (via zoom from Gaza) Rachael Cummings; Humanitarian Advisor Roula Kikhia and Oxfam Canada’s …