Gaza: Nearly 900 desperate and hungry Gazans have been killed in recent weeks trying to fetch food, with most deaths linked to private aid hubs run by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday.
According to United Nations, as of 13 July, 875 people have been recorded killed in Gaza while trying to get food; 674 of them were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites. Thameen Al-Kheetan, OHCHR spokesperson, referenced the US-Israeli run private organization which has bypassed regular humanitarian operations. The remaining 201 victims were killed while seeking food on the routes of aid convoys or near aid convoys run by the UN or UN-partners still operating in the war-shattered enclave.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, expressed concerns about the continuing killing of civilians trying to access food, while malnutrition spreads among children. UNRWA Director of Communications, Juliette Touma, said that their teams on the ground have spoken to survivors, including starving children, who were shot at while on their way to pick up food. Speaking from Amman, Ms. Touma highlighted that the Israeli blockade of Gaza has led to severe malnutrition among babies.
Ms. Touma emphasized that humanitarian assistance has been banned from entering Gaza for more than four months. She pointed out a significant increase in child malnutrition since the blockade began on 2 March. There are 6,000 trucks waiting in Egypt and Jordan, with a three-hour drive to Gaza, containing vital supplies like soap and medicine, which are nearing expiration.
Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem, Palestinians continue to be killed in violence allegedly linked to Israeli settlers and security forces, UN agencies reported. According to OHCHR, incidents include the shooting of two-year-old Laila Khatib by Israeli security forces on 25 January and the killing of 61-year-old Walid Badir on 3 July.
OHCHR’s Mr. Al-Kheetan noted the intensifying killings, attacks, and harassment of Palestinians, including the demolition of homes and forced displacement of around 30,000 Palestinians since the launch of Israel's operation Iron Wall in the north of the West Bank.
UNRWA’s Ms. Touma described the situation as a silent war, with heavy restrictions on movement, increasing poverty, and soaring unemployment. The Israeli military operation, focused on the northern West Bank, has affected refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams, causing the largest population displacement in the region since 1967.