United Nations officials on Friday vehemently criticized a US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution system in Gaza, asserting that it has led to widespread fatalities among individuals desperately seeking humanitarian assistance. They have urgently called for Israel to permit the resumption of UN-led humanitarian supplies into the war-torn territory.
Eyewitness accounts and reports from local officials have consistently detailed repeated killings of Palestinians attempting to access aid at distribution centers in recent weeks, amidst ongoing conflict between Israeli forces and Hamas militants. While the Israeli military has denied targeting aid seekers, and the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has refuted any deadly incidents linked to its sites, UN officials and other aid providers on Friday collectively denounced what they described as a surge in killings of hungry people.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian affairs (UNRWA), declared, “The new aid distribution system has become a killing field,” with people “shot at while trying to access food for themselves and their families.” He further stated on X (formerly Twitter), “This abomination must end through a return to humanitarian deliveries from the UN including @UNRWA.”
The health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory reports that since late May, over 500 individuals have been killed near aid centers while attempting to obtain scarce supplies. The country’s civil defense agency has also consistently documented fatalities among those seeking aid.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres underscored the gravity of the situation, remarking, “People are being killed simply trying to feed themselves and their families. The search for food must never be a death sentence.”
Adding to the condemnation, the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) characterized the GHF relief effort as “slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid.”
