Key Points
- UN, major aid organisations decline to collaborate with GHF
- Israeli strikes kill 46 in Gaza
- EU condemns violence at Gaza food centres
- UNRWA warns everything running out in Gaza
GAZA: The United Nations on Friday said that it has recorded 613 killings around humanitarian convoys and at aid distribution points run by an Israeli-backed American organisation in Gaza since it started its operations in May.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a privately initiated effort, began operations on May 26 after Israel imposed a more than two-month blockade on supplies into the Gaza Strip, raising alarms about an impending famine.
GHF’s operations have been plagued by chaotic scenes and frequent reports of Israeli forces firing on people waiting to receive aid in the Palestinian territory, where the Israeli military is conducting operations aimed at dismantling Hamas.
“We have recorded 613 killings” near GHF distribution points and near humanitarian convoys since the GHF began operations, until noon on June 27, UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a media briefing.
“Of the 613 figure that I mentioned, 509 people were killed near the GHF distribution.”
The others were killed “near UN and non-UN convoys”, she said.
Shamdasani said the figures were constantly evolving as the UN human rights office has received “further reports of killings since then that we are working to corroborate”.
So far, the figure of “613 is corroborated by us”, she said.
Shamdasani said the task was being made more difficult by lack of access to the Gaza Strip.
“We will perhaps never be able to grasp the full scale of what’s happening here because of the lack of access,” the spokeswoman said.
“It is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points,” she continued.
The United Nations and major aid organisations have declined to collaborate with the foundation, citing concerns that it serves Israeli military objectives and breaches fundamental humanitarian principles.
Israeli strikes kill 46 in Gaza
Israeli army attacks across Gaza since early Friday have killed at least 46 Palestinians, including 20 people waiting for humanitarian aid, according to medical sources who spoke to Anadolu Agency.
In one of the deadliest incidents of the day, 15 people were killed and 90 more injured while waiting for food assistance near the al-Tahlia roundabout in eastern Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Five civilians were shot dead near an aid distribution centre in north-western Rafah, southern Gaza. Another four Palestinians were killed in separate Israeli attacks on gatherings in the al-Tuffah and Zeitoun neighbourhoods east of Gaza City.
EU condemns violence at Gaza food centres
The European Union has condemned the violence surrounding food distribution sites operated by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
“What is happening around those distribution centres is untenable. It should not be tolerated, and the violence must cease immediately,” EU Commission spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said during a briefing in Brussels.
His remarks come as the UN human rights office reported that more than 610 people have been killed at GHF-run aid points and near humanitarian convoys since late May.
Reiterating the EU’s long-standing position, El Anouni emphasised that humanitarian aid must never be “politicised or militarised” and should be delivered according to core humanitarian principles under the coordination of the UN.
“As the European Union, we do not fund this initiative. We are not financing it, nor are we cooperating with it,” he added.
Everything running out in Gaza: UNRWA
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has warned that for the people of Gaza, everything is running out.
Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA Commissioner-General, in a post on his official X account, said no fuel has been allowed into the enclave for more than four months now.
“Without fuel, waste is piling up, clean water running out, clinics shutting down, electricity and telecoms patchy,” he said.
He added that all is deepening the immense suffering of 2 million people who continue to endure de-humanisation and humiliation
UN Chief appalled by worsening Gaza crisis
The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, is “appalled” by the deepening humanitarian crisis in besieged Gaza as Palestinians continue to face displacement and aid blockade, according to a statement from spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
“The Secretary-General strongly condemns the loss of civilian life,” Dujarric said
