Palestinians gather at an aid distribution point set up by the privately-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), near the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. AFP
The GHF, presented as a private initiative, began operating on 26 May after Israel enforced a total blockade on all supplies into Gaza for more than two months, triggering warnings of famine.
Since then, Israeli troops have repeatedly opened fire on Palestinians gathering near GHF aid sites. The UN said these incidents, along with Israeli attacks on humanitarian convoys, have resulted in hundreds of deaths.
“We have recorded 613 killings near GHF distribution points and near humanitarian convoys since the GHF began operations, until noon on 27 June,” UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told reporters.
“Of the 613, 509 were killed near GHF distribution points,” she said. The rest were killed near UN and non-UN aid convoys.
Shamdasani said the numbers are likely higher, as the UN continues to receive further reports of Israeli attacks it is working to corroborate.
Call for investigation
She added that Israel’s refusal to grant access to Gaza was obstructing independent verification.
“It is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points,” Shamdasani said.
“How many killings? Who is responsible? We need an investigation. We need access. We need an independent inquiry, and we need accountability for these killings.”
The UN and major humanitarian groups have refused to work with the GHF, warning that it was created to serve Israeli military interests and violates core humanitarian principles.
Headquartered in Delaware, the GHF is chaired by Johnnie Moore, a Christian evangelical leader and ally of US President Donald Trump. On Thursday, the foundation claimed to have distributed over a million food boxes in Gaza.
“We have not had a single violent incident in our distribution sites. We haven’t had a violent incident in close proximity to our distribution sites,” Moore told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday.
That claim is contradicted by numerous eyewitness accounts and medical reports from Gaza.
Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization’s representative in the occupied Palestinian territories, condemned the killings: “The senseless killing in Gaza must stop.”
After visiting Nasser Medical Complex this week, he described hospital corridors packed with wounded civilians. “There are patients everywhere — on the floor, in the corridors,” he said.
“It’s mainly boys, young adolescents, young men, and we all know that they go to these so-called safe, non-UN food distribution sites,” he added. “There are so many of these cases shot in the head, shot in the neck, shot in the chest.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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