Key Points
- 18 more Palestinians killed in Gaza
- UNRWA warns against Israel’s Gaza displacement plan
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 57,762 people
GAZA: The United Nations human rights office said on Friday that at least 798 people were killed both at aid points run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and near humanitarian convoys run by other relief groups.
“Up until the seventh of July, we’ve recorded now 798 killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, and 183 presumably on the route of aid convoys,” OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a UN-led system.
The GHF started distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May and has repeatedly denied that incidents had occurred at its sites.
18 Palestinians killed in Gaza
At least 18 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces across Gaza since dawn on Friday, including 10 civilians who were shot while waiting to receive humanitarian aid in the Al‑Shakoush area, northwest of Rafah, according to Palestinian media and medical sources.
Medics told the media that Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd gathered for food and basic supplies, resulting in 10 fatalities and over 60 injuries.
In a separate incident, an Israeli drone strike near the Al‑Nazla roundabout in northern Gaza injured five civilians after dropping bombs on the area.
UNRWA warns against Israel’s Gaza displacement
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has denounced Israel’s plan to forcibly displace Palestinians in Gaza towards the southern city of Rafah. It warned that such move would create “massive concentration camps” and worsen the humanitarian crisis.
Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s director of communications, told Al Jazeera English that the agency “categorically refuses any forced displacement of any population.”
“If it happens, it will push further tens of thousands of people who have already been displaced many, many times during this current war but also over the generations, further south and from there into the unknown,” Touma said.
“What needs to happen right now is to focus on reaching a ceasefire and allowing UNRWA to bring in much-needed supplies,” she said.
Gaza death toll surpasses 57,762
Gaza’s Health Ministry said that Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 57,762 people and injured 137,656.
Israel has recently expanded its military operations in the Gaza Strip, where the war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the population of more than two million people.
Netanyahu demands Hamas disarm before deal
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel is ready to negotiate a lasting deal with Hamas to end the Gaza war.
But Netanyahu said the group must first give up their weapons and their hold on the Palestinian territory, warning that failure to reach a deal on Israel’s terms would lead to further conflict.
EU regrets US sanctions on UN expert over Gaza
The European Union on Friday said it “deeply regrets” the US decision to impose sanctions on United Nations expert Francesca Albanese after she criticised Washington’s policy on Gaza.
“The European Union strongly supports the United Nations human rights system and we deeply regret the decision to impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese,” said EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni.
