Minderoo Foundation publicly releases details of SafeGates, Israel urged to act to avoid a mass starvation event

22 Jun 2024 – Minderoo Foundation has today made public the intellectual property of its SafeGates solution following Israel’s ongoing deferral of adopting the life-saving technology.

• SafeGates Presentation (English), Arabic, Hebrew
• SafeGates Video (English), Arabic, Hebrew
• Minderoo Foundation Gaza Food Insecurity Report (English), Arabic, Hebrew

On 11 June, Minderoo Foundation announced SafeGates – a fast, secure and effective plan that would assist the avoidance of a major starvation event in Gaza impacting up to 1 million people, including 400,000 children. Minderoo Foundation Co-Founder, Dr Andrew Forrest, AO said Israel’s dithering over the past fortnight, despite Fortescue having provided the technology to deliver large amounts of aid, raises legitimate questions about how Israel will meet its ironclad obligations under international humanitarian law.

Dr Forrest said Minderoo scientists and doctors, in consultation with experts in Israel, had assessed the number of vulnerable people in Gaza exposed to death through starvation to be in excess of 1 million people, including 400,000 children.

“In such conditions, people with little to no access to medical care or food are extremely vulnerable to the outbreak of disease,” Dr Forrest said.

“In crowded, unsanitary and unsustainable living conditions, people become emaciated and immuno-suppressed with devastating consequences. If a mass starvation event were to occur, Minderoo assesses the mortality risk could ultimately be on par with that suffered by the people of Rwanda in 1994. This is a preventable disaster.”

“In the face of Israel’s inability to act, Minderoo Foundation has decided to release the intellectual property of SafeGates publicly and asks the powers of the Middle East, including Israel, to immediately work together to prevent this entirely predictable disaster. October 7th was a tragic and unjustified attack, and all those illegally snatched from their homes should be immediately released. The right for Israel to defend itself against terror is clear and absolute, but the manner in which it does so and the obligations it resultantly must meet, matter a great deal.”

Dr Forrest said Minderoo Foundation remained resolutely committed to supporting a comprehensive humanitarian response in Gaza, with a $19 million package committed already, including the provision of additional delivery trucks inside Gaza and an offer to bituminize a spine corridor, approximately 40km long, down the middle of Gaza, which would accelerate aid to vulnerable babies, children and their families.

“Minderoo Foundation provided Israel a fully financed solution to enable the flow of thousands of tonnes of aid to enter Gaza securely and efficiently to prevent a generational disaster and mass starvation event,” Dr Forrest said.

“For more than two months, Minderoo Foundation was in detailed consultation and technical discussion with Israeli and Palestinian officials. SafeGates were presented as an urgent solution, and we requested they be treated as such.

“Heartbreakingly, despite thorough reviews and discussions, Israel was unable to step outside its normal operating parameters to provide full approval in a timely manner that would have seen the first gate operational in two weeks and all three gates operating within three weeks.”

Editor’s Note

A Minderoo team of medical experts and statisticians calculated a total accrued caloric deficit of 206,000 kcal per person in the four key locations in the Gaza Strip – Gaza City, Khan Younis City, Dier Al Balah City and Rafah City – since January 2024. To address the shortfall, the entire Gaza Strip population required about 210,000 tonnes of food aid – or almost 21,000 trucks.