The UN human rights office reported that it has documented at least 798 killings over the past six weeks at aid locations in Gaza managed by the US- and Israeli-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and in proximity to convoys operated by other relief organizations.
The GHF utilizes private US security and logistics firms to deliver supplies to Gaza, largely circumventing a UN-led system.
Following the deaths of numerous Palestinian civilians attempting to access GHF’s aid hubs in areas where Israeli forces are active, the United Nations deemed its aid model “inherently unsafe” and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards.
“From May 27 to July 7, we recorded 798 killings, including 615 near the sites of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and 183 likely along the paths of aid convoys,” stated UN rights office (OHCHR) spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani during a regular media briefing in Geneva.
The GHF has denied any deadly incidents occurring at its locations.
The OHCHR indicated that it relies on a variety of sources for its data, including reports from hospitals in Gaza, cemeteries, families, Palestinian health authorities, NGOs, and its partners in the field.
People are seen carrying aid from a GHF site in Gaza.
Most of the injuries to Palestinians near aid distribution hubs recorded by OHCHR since May 27 were due to gunshot wounds, according to Ms. Shamdasani.
“We have expressed concerns about potential atrocity crimes being committed and the likelihood of further such crimes occurring where individuals are waiting for essential supplies like food,” she explained.
The GHF claimed it delivered over 70 million meals to starving Gaza Palestinians within five weeks, asserting that other humanitarian organizations had “almost all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has previously reported incidents of violent theft of aid, while the UN World Food Programme noted last week that most trucks delivering food assistance to Gaza had been intercepted by “hungry civilian communities.”
There is a severe shortage of food and other basic necessities 21 months into Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, during which much of the region has been reduced to ruins and the majority of its 2.3 million residents displaced.
The agency also reported that one individual was killed in a separate strike on Gaza City.
Eighteen killed in ongoing Israeli strikes – civil defense.
The updated UN death toll figures arise as Gaza’s civil defense agency reported that Israeli forces killed 18 people today, including ten waiting for aid in the southern war-ravaged territory.
Gaza civil defense official Mohammed al-Mughayyir indicated that ten individuals were shot by Israeli forces while waiting for supplies in the Al-Shakoush area northwest of Rafah, where there are frequent reports of deadly fire on aid seekers.
The civil defense agency confirmed six additional deaths due to four separate Israeli air strikes in Khan Yunis, in the southern part of the territory.
Two drone strikes in northern Gaza City resulted in two more fatalities, civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal informed AFP.
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MSF warns of soaring acute malnutrition in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders cautioned that its teams in Gaza are observing rising levels of acute malnutrition in the region.
The medical charity, known by its French acronym MSF, reported that acute malnutrition levels have reached an “all-time high” at two of its facilities in Gaza.
“MSF teams are witnessing a sharp and unprecedented increase in acute malnutrition among people in Gaza,” the organization stated.
“In the Al-Mawasi clinic in southern Gaza and the MSF Gaza Clinic in the north, we are recording the highest number of malnutrition cases ever reported by our teams in the territory.”
MSF disclosed that it currently has over 700 pregnant and breastfeeding women, along with nearly 500 children suffering from severe and moderate malnutrition, enrolled in therapeutic feeding centers at both clinics.
“This is the first time we have encountered such a severe scale of malnutrition cases in Gaza,” said Mohammed Abu Mughaisib, MSF’s deputy medical coordinator in Gaza.
“The starvation of the people in Gaza is intentional,” he emphasized, insisting that “this situation could end immediately if the Israeli authorities permit food to enter at scale.”
Palestinians assessing damage inflicted on a building by an Israeli attack.
‘Absolute panic.’
Meanwhile, UNICEF’s Communications Specialist for Children in Gaza reported “absolute panic” after nine children were killed in an Israeli strike outside a health clinic in central Gaza.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Rosalia Bollen detailed that mothers and children had gathered at the site, which was not yet open, to obtain therapeutic nutrition products for malnourished children.
She noted that the organization distributing the aid was one with which UNICEF closely collaborates, and a UNICEF team was dispatched to the scene following the strike.
“My colleagues visited the hospital, interviewing several children and mothers,” she said.
“There was a mother of two boys who lost her one-year-old, and her 10-year-old is in the ICU.”
“It was a chaotic scene characterized by absolute panic.”
“Hospitals in Gaza are overwhelmed with a constant influx of severely injured individuals on a daily basis.”
“These are not individuals with minor injuries or light concussions; we are talking about people who have lost limbs and have shrapnel embedded in their bodies, facing very serious injuries that could alter their lives.”
Palestinian children lining up for food from a charitable organization.
Ms. Bollen stated that in the first week of July, at least 100 children were reported killed.
She emphasized that yesterday’s incident is “not an isolated case” and is the “daily reality” for families in Gaza.
She explained that families have been deprived of the essentials required for survival, leading to diseases, malnutrition, and preventable fatalities.
“There is simply not enough of anything. There isn’t enough food, medicine, hygiene products, sanitary pads, or diapers. Everything is very scarce, and this scarcity is artificially created.”
“We hope for a significant change soon because families in Gaza desperately need a mass influx of supplies right now.”
Ms. Bollen affirmed that UNICEF continues to operate throughout the conflict and will maintain its presence alongside other organizations.
