The reporters – five of whom worked for the Al Jazeera media network – were killed in a targeted Israeli strike in Gaza City the previous day. “These latest killings highlight the extreme risks journalists continue to face when covering the ongoing war,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said during his regular media briefing from New York.“The Secretary-General calls for an independent and impartial investigation into these latest killings.” Respect the pressMr. Dujarric pointed out that at least 242 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began nearly three years ago.“The Secretary-General underscores that journalists and media workers must be respected, they must be protected and they must be allowed to carry out their work freely, free from fear and free from harassment,” he said.Hungry children dyingMeanwhile, the number of children in Gaza who have died from malnutrition since October 2023 has surpassed 100, according to the Gazan health authorities, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said in an update.More than a third of the population is not eating for days at a time, according to the UN World Food Population (WFP).  Furthermore, acute malnutrition is spiking, with over 300,000 children at severe risk.This comes amidst a recent warning by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that a mere 1.5 per cent of cropland in the enclave remains both accessible and undamaged, “signaling a near-total collapse of the local production of food.”Aid taken from trucksOn the aid front, the UN and its partners collected food and hygiene kits from the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem border crossing on Wednesday.“However, supplies were offloaded directly from these trucks before reaching their destination, given the extreme desperation pervasive in Gaza today,” OCHA said.The agency stressed that people there “need a predictable lifeline – not a trickle of aid – so they do not feel they need to take desperate measures to survive.”WFP said that just to cover basic humanitarian food assistance needs, more than 62,000 metric tonnes are required to enter Gaza every month, and so far, humanitarians have not been permitted to bring in enough supplies to support the population. Fuel shortages continueHumanitarians also collected fuel from the Kerem Shalom crossing on Wednesday. Israel is allowing, on average, the entry of about 150,000 litres of fuel daily, which is still far below the minimum required. As a result, life-saving operations continue to be at risk.The Palestine Civil Defence organization has warned that more than half of their ambulances have stopped operating across Gaza due to the shortage of both fuel and spare parts. “Israeli authorities must allow aid to enter through all crossings and via all available corridors so that humanitarians can deliver – at scale, in a safe and dignified manner – to reach the most vulnerable, including women, children and older people,” OCHA said. 

Aid agencies warned on Wednesday that most partner organizations providing vital relief across Gaza will likely have to shut down their operations within weeks, unless Israel withdraws its demand that they provide sensitive information about Palestinian employees.The development – which also applies to the occupied West Bank – is a result of the Israeli requirement introduced on 9 March impacting international non-governmental organizations (NGOs).“Unless urgent action is taken…most international NGO partners could be de-registered by 9 September or sooner – forcing them to withdraw all international staff and preventing them from providing critical, lifesaving humanitarian assistance to Palestinians,” said UN and partner aid organizations that are known collectively as the Humanitarian Country Team in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).The UN understands that organizations must now submit, amongst others, details of representatives and all employees in-country, including Palestinian and foreign workers, with full identification and contact details.For foreign worker recommendation requirements, applications must now include marital status and family details, including spouse and children’s passport numbers and country of issuance.Many UN agencies still operate in Gaza, working closely with NGO partners to reach the war-torn enclave’s most vulnerable people. International NGOs are key as they provide critical support to Palestinian NGOs in the form of supplies, funding and technical support.Collective call“Without this cooperation, their operations will be severed, cutting off even more communities from food, medical care, shelter and critical protection services,” said the Humanitarian Country Team, which is overseen by the UN’s top aid official in OPT and includes heads of UN agencies and more than 200 local and international NGOs.Already, NGOs which have not registered under the new system are prohibited from sending any supplies to Gaza.Just last month, Israeli authorities rejected repeated requests by 29 of them to ship humanitarian aid to Gaza, citing the organizations as “not authorised”.“This policy has already prevented the delivery of lifesaving aid including medicine, food, and hygiene items,” the humanitarian collective said. “This most profoundly affects women, children, older people, and persons with disabilities, further aggravating the risk of being subjected to abuse and exploitation.”In a statement urging Israel to reconsider its demand for sensitive employee information from NGOs, the humanitarian country team insisted that impeding its work violates international law “when we are receiving daily reports of death by starvation as Gaza faces famine conditions”.Convoy tragedyMeanwhile inside Gaza, reports on Wednesday indicated that at least 20 people were killed and dozens more injured in central Gaza after a convoy of aid trucks overturned into a crowd.The incident happened in southern Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza, on Tuesday, according to the local authorities. Further reports indicated that desperate people seeking aid had climbed onto the lorries before the drivers lost control.In its latest aid update, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, noted that a full 90 per cent of aid brought into Gaza since 20 July has been “offloaded by hungry crowds or looted by armed gangs”.People who approach aid convoys near Israeli military checkpoints continue to be killed and wounded, OCHA said.It cited the health authorities which reported that between 27 May and 4 August, there have been 1,516 fatalities and more than 10,000 injuries at militarised distribution sites or along humanitarian aid convoy routes.

“I used to easily receive aid distributed by the UN,” Abir Safi, a displaced person from the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, told UN News. “Now, we get nothing. I risk my life by going to the Zikim crossing and returning with an empty bag. All I want is to return to my children with some food.”Ms. Safi said she never imagined that providing for her children would become a deadly adventure. After losing her husband in the war, she found herself alone, facing the responsibility of supporting her family amid deteriorating humanitarian conditions.She was among thousands of citizens who gathered along Rashid Street in northern Gaza, which connects the Zikim crossing to northern Gaza, hoping to receive humanitarian aid.‘Bullets over my head’Our correspondent witnessed the arrival of thousands of Palestinians returning from a journey in search of food supplies. Thousands of emaciated bodies – men, women, and children – were caught in a scene that has become a daily occurrence. Everyone is running in search of the few aid trucks that reach northern Gaza.The United Nations has the capacity and resources necessary to distribute aid in a safe, dignified manner to all those in need in the Gaza Strip. The organization continues to call for the lifting of restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities on the entry and distribution of aid into Gaza.The danger lies not only in the crowding and chaos, but also in the death that lurks around everyone. Fayza al-Turmisi, a displaced person from Shuja’iyya, described the horrific scene along Rashid Street in northern Gaza.“They fire shells and bullets at us here. We are forced to lie on the ground. I hide among more than 200 men, and bullets fly over my head. If you raise your head, you get hit. If you stay on the ground, bullets fall around you.”Between mourning and hungerMohammed Mudeiris, aged seven, said he lost his father in an airstrike just the day before. He doesn’t have the luxury of grieving for his father as he is now the sole breadwinner for his siblings.Walking through the dense crowds, he extends his small hand, begging for a handful of flour to take back to his siblings.“I am the eldest of my siblings,” he said. “My father was killed in an airstrike yesterday. I am trying to ask someone to give me a plate of flour or a meal from the aid that arrived today.”‘I risk my life to bring food to my children’The race for food is not limited to men. Women are forced to take this risk, driven by the responsibilities of motherhood and the needs of their children.“I throw myself into danger to bring food for my children,” said Asma Masoud, who was displaced from northern Gaza.“We never get our fair share of aid,” she said. “My husband is paralysed, and there are widows and women like me who cannot provide food for their children.”Highlighting that some young people take the aid and sell it at exorbitant prices that she cannot afford to buy, Ms. Masoud called on the world to ensure “a fair distribution mechanism and to allow UNRWA [the UN agency for Palestine refugees] and international organizations to do so”.Aid should be distributed via text messages so that every person in need receives their share, as was the case before, she said.“But now, only a few people are profiting and selling the aid,” she stated. “We cannot tolerate that. It is an injustice.”‘I don’t know how I’m going to feed my children’Ms. Safi agreed with Ms. Masoud, complaining that “the beneficiaries now are largely thieves.”“I’ve lost a lot of weight, and all my health is gone,” Ms. Safi said. “I don’t know how I'm going to feed my children. I want to receive aid with dignity. Aid used to come through the United Nations, and I could easily go and receive it, but now I don't receive anything."This chaotic system leaves behind widows, women, the elderly and many other complex humanitarian cases, such as Maqboula Adas, who supports her injured husband and her son who has a broken leg.“My husband is injured and cannot move,” she explained. “My eldest son has a broken leg, and I also have three daughters. No one supports us except God. Every day I go to try to get some flour. If it weren't for that, they would have died of hunger.”Carts carry corpsesAt the height of this tragedy, macabre scenes emerge. Instead of carrying bags of flour, a horse-drawn cart transports the bodies of at least seven Palestinians who were killed while trying to get aid.While some young men carried sacks of flour on their backs, ambulances bring the wounded and dead from the northern regions. The achievement of getting food aid comes at a heavy price.One young man was injured in the head and face while trying to collect aid.“I came to collect aid, but today wasn’t my day,” he said. “I will come again despite my injury, and I hope God will provide for me next time.”Risk of famineGaza is facing a severe risk of famine, with food consumption and nutrition indicators at their worst levels since the beginning of the current conflict, according to a warning issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). At least 147 deaths due to hunger and malnutrition have been reported, including 88 children. More than 28,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition have been recorded among children, according to reports from the World Health Organization and the World Food Programme.Despite promises to facilitate the flow of aid, restrictions on the entry of food and fuel, along with ongoing attacks near the crossings, have prevented supplies from reaching those in need. In addition, the chaotic distribution of aid within Gaza has further complicated the situation and placed civilians at greater risk.The UN human rights office (OHCHR) has documented the deaths of hundreds of people attempting to access aid amid ongoing gunfire and shelling near relief truck routes and military distribution points.‘If I get killed, who will take care of my children?’Amidst this chaos, widow Enaam Siam, a mother of six, recounts her struggle for food.“I am a widow and a mother of six orphaned children, one of whom is injured,” she said. “Every day, I go out amidst death to bring them food. I see the dead and wounded.”She asked why aid is no longer delivered to warehouses and distributed via text message.“If I am killed, who will take care of my children? There are thousands of women in a similar situation. We want safety, peace and a fair system that ensures aid reaches those in need.”

In Gaza, UN aid teams continue to report that Gaza is on the brink of famine with the UN human rights chief denouncing images of starvation inside the enclave as “an affront to our collective humanity.”  Meanwhile, on Thursday and again on Saturday, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas militants published disturbing videos of two emaciated Israeli hostages, sparking worldwide outrage and condemnation from UN leaders, including Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday.The hostages pictured, Rom Braslavsk and Evyatar David, are two of the 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.At Monday’s daily briefing in New York, UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq said the Secretary-General “was very shocked by this unacceptable violation of human dignity.”UN rights chief Volker Türk added in a statement that he was appalled by the humiliating treatment of the hostages. Both he and the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, reiterated their call for an unconditional, immediate release of all hostages still being held since the 7 October terror attacks.The High Commissioner said the “intolerable” sight of starvation in Gaza served as another reminder that the violence had to end. “Saving lives must be everyone’s priority.”He called for Israel to immediately allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded aid: “Denying civilians access to food may amount to a war crime, as well as potentially a crime against humanity.”Attack on aid workersOn Sunday, the Israeli military reportedly struck the headquarters of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Khan Younis, killing one and injuring three other staff members.  The facility is marked with the Red Crescent emblem and is thus protected under international humanitarian law.The UN rights office (OHCHR) in Palestine expressed deep shock and outrage over these killings.“These workers continue to engage in life-saving efforts putting their own lives at risk,” OHCHR said.Aid entry  Amid these controversies, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, posted on social media on Saturday, saying that since Friday, the agency had brought 24 trucks with medical supplies into Gaza.  Items included essential medicines, trauma and surgery supplies, treatments for non-communicable disease and laboratory and water testing supplies.  Mr. Haq also highlighted on Monday that in recent days, the UN and its partners have collected wheat flour, ready-to-eat rations and hot meals from crossing points into Gaza, but most of the cargo was taken by the hungry and desperate before reaching intended destinations.Additionally, hygiene kits and nutrition supplies, including high-energy biscuits for pregnant and breastfeeding women and infant formula, have entered in the past week.However, in the second week since the Israeli announcement of tactical pauses to allow safe passages for UN aid convoys, Mr. Haq said realities on the ground remain largely the same.  This includes many challenges to delivering aid, resulting in the impediment of two of the 11 missions on Sunday and the full passage of only seven.Famine-like conditionsThis aid is still a fraction of what is needed, as a catastrophic food crisis worsens across the Strip.  The World Food Programme (WFP) said it “is doing everything possible to distribute vital food assistance to families,” but reported on Sunday that over half a million people in Gaza are enduring famine-like conditions.  The UN aid agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) released an audio of Manar, an employee who works within Gaza, on Monday. She said that “food is never enough,” and that many walk in the heat for hours to search for food and medical supplies.The Commissioner-General for UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, underscored that this near-famine is largely due to deliberate efforts to dismantle the UN-coordinated humanitarian system through the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is responsible for the killing of nearly 1,400 starving Palestinians near its sites and convoy routes, according to Gaza’s health ministry.Prioritising the GHF, Israel has prevented UNRWA – “the backbone of humanitarian response” – from bringing in assistance since 2 March, he said.