Officials from US Agency for International Development have been attending daily meetings to discuss humanitarian aid to Gaza: Report

JERUSALEM, Oct 15 (SABAH): Officials from the US Agency for International Development (USAid) have been attending daily meetings to discuss humanitarian aid to Gaza at an Israeli military base where Israeli guards have allegedly tortured Palestinian detainees, according to a media report.

Citing three USAid officials, it was reported that Israel’s humanitarian relief hub, known as the joint coordination board (JCB), has been operating out of Sde Teiman since 29 July, and coordinates its logistics with the US, United Nations and a number of international NGOs.

An internal USAid document reviewed by the newspaper referred to “the present JCB location on Sde Teiman IDF base”, which is located near Beersheba in southern Israel.

The reports said that two USAid officials hold daily meetings with Israeli and UN officials at Sde Teiman. In a request for comment, USAid told Middle East Eye: “Due to security considerations, we do not comment on the specific locations of our staff.”

Established after the 7 October Hamas-led attack on southern Israel and the subsequent war on Gaza, the Sde Teiman base became a makeshift centre to hold Palestinian detainees. Since October 2023, more than 4,000 Palestinians from Gaza have been detained by the Israeli military there, often held without charge or evidence of wrongdoing.

In April, an unnamed doctor described in harrowing detail the conditions at the facility, including limb amputation due to handcuff injuries and prisoners forced to defecate in diapers.