According to the United Nations, since May 27, 1,054 Palestinians have died at food aid points due to the actions of the Israeli army. UN organizations are once again sounding the alarm.
According to the United Nations, since May 27, 766 Palestinians died at points of the highly controversial, Israeli-controlled Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). In addition, 288 people died near convoys of the UN and other aid organizations.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN organization for aid in the Palestinian Territories (UNRWA), calls the GHF distribution points “sadistic traps where people die”.
UN chief António Guterres calls the horrors resulting from the Israeli military attacks on the Gaza Strip unprecedented in recent history. “The degree of death and destruction that is sown” among the Palestinians “has no equal in our years,” he said.
International call to end the war in Gaza
The Netherlands and 27 other countries issued a joint statement on Monday calling for an end to the war in Gaza. They also expressed sharp criticism of the deaths of Palestinian civilians who were trying to obtain humanitarian aid. According to the countries involved, Israel uses “a dangerous method” whereby Palestinians unnecessarily risk getting food.
Although it was not the first call, the language used was much sharper than before. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the images from Gaza “unbearable”. The British Foreign Secretary, David Lemmy, spoke of “disgusting” and “unbearable” images. “If we could end the war on our own, we would.”
Von der Leyen emphasized that Israel must adhere to its commitments to the European Union regarding allowing more humanitarian aid into Gaza. “The people of Gaza have suffered too much, for far too long.” The GHF itself states that aid delivery generally proceeds without incident. The organization shares daily updates on X.
Too little food for the flocked crowd
The Wall Street Journal published a report on the food points on Monday. The reporter said that there is usually too little food available for the flocked crowd, resulting in chaotic situations. A journalist from The Economist came to a similar conclusion.
Soldiers confirm in conversations with the newspaper that warning shots are almost always fired, even if there is no immediate threat to the Israeli troops. The use of artillery shells is not avoided. Other soldiers and officers expressed a similar sentiment last month in conversations with the critical Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Dozens of people have died of starvation in the past 48 hours
According to the Hamas-led Palestinian Ministry of Health, a hundred people, including eighty children, have died of hunger since the beginning of the war. Most of them are said to have died in recent weeks.
In the last 48 hours, 33 people, including 12 children, have died of starvation, a spokesperson tells the BBC. The UN World Food Program estimates that almost one in three people in Gaza sometimes has nothing to eat for several days.
Doctors and journalists would regularly faint
According to UNRWA chief Lazzarini, no one in Gaza is spared from hunger. UNRWA employees, doctors and journalists would regularly faint during their work. The major international journalists organization Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sees the suffering of journalists in Gaza as a “deliberate tactic”.
The organization is seriously concerned about the conditions in which journalists have to do their work, “cut off from food, aid and support from the international press”. According to the latest counts from the CPJ, 186 journalists have been killed by attacks by the Israeli army since the beginning of the Gaza war.
Criticism is also heard from Israel. The Israeli Medical Association sent letters to the IDF leadership for the first time on Tuesday calling for “medical equipment and humanitarian supplies” to be allowed into the Gaza Strip. The letter referred to reports from the Palestinian Ministry of Health about 73 people who were killed on Sunday while waiting for humanitarian aid.