Gaza: UN rights chief condemns new killings around private aid hub

UN human rights chief Volker Türk has condemned new reports that dozens more Gazans were killed early Tuesday “trying to access paltry amounts of food” around a private aid hub in the south of the enclave run by the US and Israel.

“Attacks directed against civilians constitute a grave breach of international law and a war crime,” the High Commissioner said in a statement, issued after Palestinians were reportedly killed seeking assistance for a third day running.

Mr. Türk also urged Israel to respect “binding orders” issued by the International Court of Justice to fully cooperate with the UN and ensure that aid reaches the people of Gaza “without delay” and “at scale”.

“There is no justification for failing to comply with these obligations,” he said.

UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the loss of lives and injuries of Palestinians seeking aid, which are "unacceptable,” and continues to call for an independent investigation into the incidents.

“Once again, we are witnessing unthinkable loss of life in Gaza," he told journalists in New York. “Civilians are risking – and in several instances losing – their lives to get food.”  

Access calls denied

The controversial new aid initiative run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation bypasses the work of UN aid agencies which have repeatedly appealed for unimpeded access to Gaza in order to bring in thousands of tonnes of supplies. To date, the little aid that has been allowed into the enclave has fallen far short of what is needed.

In an update, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) insisted that it still had “teams on the ground” in Gaza ready to distribute supplies where they are needed across the war-torn enclave, if only they could be allowed to move.

“We have right now 51 trucks waiting loaded with medical supplies to go to those few hospitals that are still functional,” said WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic. “We need access so that we can bring in supplies within Gaza to health facilities so they can function. Unfortunately, what is happening is just the opposite. There is no hospital in north Gaza functional anymore.”

On Monday, Mr. Jasarevic said that a WHO team went to the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza “and basically evacuated all remaining patients and medical staff…now that hospital is completely empty”. In Jabalia, also in northern Gaza, three Israeli soldiers were reportedly killed on Monday when their vehicle struck an explosive device.

Most vulnerable miss out

Critics of the US-Israeli scheme - which include the UN - have warned that it prevents children, the elderly and those with disabilities from receiving aid, since recipients often have to walk long distances to retrieve boxes of supplies distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“The wilful impediment of access to food and other life-sustaining relief supplies for civilians may constitute a war crime,” Mr. Türk said.

His lengthy statement also condemned “the threat of starvation” faced by Gazans today, the “20 months of killing of civilians and destruction on a massive scale”.

Gazans have also been repeatedly displaced by evacuation orders from the Israeli military and faced “intolerable, dehumanizing rhetoric and threats by Israel’s leadership to empty the Strip”, the UN rights chief noted. All of these facts constitute elements of the most serious crimes under international law, he insisted.

‘Am I going to get shot?’

Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, OHCHR, highlighted the High Commissioner’s call for a prompt, independent investigation into the dozens of reported killings in Gaza since the new aid hub opened on 27 May.

“I think there's so much which has happened in the past three days apart from the tragic circumstances of human beings trying to gather food to survive and then being killed in the process,” he told journalists in Geneva. “[Gazans] are being forced to walk to these centres and now they're terrified. Probably they go there and they're thinking, ‘Am I going to get food or am I going to get shot?’”

Mr. Laurence noted multiple media reports on killings around the southern Gaza aid hub in recent days indicating engagement by helicopters, naval vessels, tanks and ground troops.

“We are aware of those reports,” he said, noting that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had also published an account on X of what had happened on Tuesday.

“My colleagues who are working on the ground have conducted interviews with witnesses and they do report fire from the IDF on those trying to access the food distribution centres. We've received reports from other organizations on the ground to a similar effect.”

He added: “We've gathered our own information; we've spoken to witnesses on the ground who have shared what they have seen, heard and felt themselves.”

Asked to explain what the High Commissioner meant when he expressed concerns that the “most serious crimes under international law” may have been committed, Mr. Laurence explained that this referred to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Young lives in danger

Meanwhile, humanitarians report a sharp rise in child labour and early marriage in Gaza, as well as family separation – all driven by hunger, displacement and economic turmoil.

“Children are increasingly exposed to violence and exploitation during chaotic distributions of basic supplies – including in crowds, when people take flour directly from trucks,” said Mr. Dujarric, the UN Spokesperson, noting that children with disabilities are often the worst affected.

Israel also issued another displacement order on Monday covering four neighbourhoods in Khan Younis, affecting some 45,000 people.

Aid ‘still just a trickle’

Mr. Dujarric said the UN and partners continue to make the most of the limited opening for aid delivery which began last month following nearly 80 days of blockade.

“But as we’ve said before, what’s coming in – and if it does come in - is still just a trickle and does not meet the immense needs on the ground,” he remarked.

“We have enough supplies lined up and ready, close to Gaza. But only limited amounts are actually reaching the people who need them, and that’s because of conditions on the ground.”

In particular, the UN humanitarian affairs office OCHA warns of bottlenecks in the Kerem Shalom border crossing, the only one Israel allows for aid into Gaza.

He said that since 17 May, only half of the pre-cleared supplies submitted for a second and final clearance by Israel has made it through to the Palestinian side of the crossing.

“In total, the UN and our partners submitted over 1,200 pre-cleared truckloads for final Israeli clearance,” he said. Just over 920 truckloads were approved and some 620 have made it to the Palestinian side.

Of the supplies scanned in Kerem Shalom - which include flour as well as medical and nutrition items - UN teams have managed to collect about 370 truckloads and bring them inside Gaza. 

Mr. Dujarric explained that access to the crossing “requires driving through militarized zones where bombings are continuing” and UN teams have to follow routes that are approved by the Israeli authorities.

“Yesterday, 10 of 13 attempts to coordinate such movements were rejected. And those included the collection of supplies from Kerem Shalom, but also other life-saving operations such as trucking water to North Gaza or relocating fuel stocks to where they are needed,” he said.