In Gaza, 47 people were injured by gunfire while trying to collect food aid from the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). A UN official speaks of “shocking images of hungry people, desperately seeking food.”
The shots were fired by the Israeli army, said Ajith Sunghay at a press conference in Geneva. Sunghay is the UN official responsible for human rights in the occupied Palestinian Territories. The UN bases the injury count of 47 on information obtained through local sources.
It was already announced on Tuesday that a stampede had occurred in Gaza during the distribution of food by the GHF. This is an American organization that distributes food packages in cooperation with Israel.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA (the UN organization for Palestinian refugees), described the images as shocking. He saw “hungry people pushing against fences, desperately seeking food.” He called the situation “chaotic, undignified and unsafe.”
The UN has rejected the controversial American-Israeli aid plan and is not involved. The GHF would use aid as a weapon and contribute to the war aims of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to Lazzarini, there is already “an aid distribution system that functions well.”
Hundreds of thousands of people suffer from ‘catastrophic hunger’
In recent months, Israel did not allow food aid and other resources into Gaza, while sufficient supplies were ready at the borders. As a result, international organizations were forced to stop their operations. According to a report by the UN and several NGOs, 470,000 people in Gaza suffered from “catastrophic hunger” in May.
Earlier this month, Israel allowed a “basic amount” of food back into Gaza. Aid organizations described this as “a band-aid on an open wound.”