Palestinians carry humanitarian aid packages near the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution center operated by the U.S.-backed organization in Khan Younis, on June 26.Abdel Kareem Hana/The Associated Press
The UN rights office said on Friday it had recorded at least 798 killings within the past six weeks at aid points in Gaza run by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and near convoys run by other relief groups.
The GHF uses private U.S. security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a UN-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the allegation.
After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians trying to reach the GHF’s aid hubs in zones where Israeli forces operate, the United Nations has called its aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
“(From May 27) up until the seventh of July, we’ve recorded 798 killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, and 183 presumably on the route of aid convoys,” UN rights office (OHCHR) spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a media briefing in Geneva.
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The GHF, which began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May after Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade, told Reuters the UN figures were “false and misleading”. It denies that deadly incidents have occurred at its sites.
“The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid site have been linked to UN convoys,” a GHF spokesperson said.
“Ultimately, the solution is more aid. If the UN (and) other humanitarian groups would collaborate with us, we could end or significantly reduce these violent incidents.”
The Israeli army told Reuters in a statement that it was reviewing recent mass casualties and that it had sought to minimise friction between Palestinians and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) by installing fences and signs and opening additional routes.
Doctors at Gaza City’s Al-Helou hospital said that they are struggling to care for newborn and premature babies, who are crammed into single incubators, due to crippling fuel shortages.
Reuters
The OHCHR said it based its figures on sources such as information from hospitals in Gaza, cemeteries, families, Palestinian health authorities, NGOs and its partners on the ground.
Most of the injuries to Palestinians in the vicinity of aid distribution hubs recorded by the OHCHR since May 27 were gunshot wounds, Shamdasani said.
“We’ve raised concerns about atrocity crimes having been committed and the risk of further atrocity crimes being committed where people are lining up for essential supplies such as food,” she said.
After the GHF assertion that the OHCHR figures are false and misleading, Shamdasani said: “It is not helpful to issue blanket dismissals of our concerns - what is needed is investigations into why people are being killed while trying to access aid.”
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Israel has said its forces operate near the relief aid sites to prevent supplies falling into the hands of militants it has been fighting in the Gaza war triggered by the Hamas-led cross-border attack on October 7, 2023.
The GHF said on Friday it had delivered more than 70 million meals to Gaza Palestinians in five weeks, and that other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has previously cited instances of violent pillaging of aid, and the UN World Food Programme said last week that most trucks carrying food assistance into Gaza had been intercepted by “hungry civilian communities.”
There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies 21 months into Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, during which much of the enclave has been reduced to rubble and most of its 2.3 million inhabitants displaced.
UN Palestinian rights expert Francesca Albanese was sanctioned by the U.S. The UN says she is the first special rapporteur to be sanctioned and calls for the decision to be reversed.Ida Marie Odgaard/Reuters
The UN Human Rights office confirmed on Friday that it’s top expert on Palestinian rights is the first special rapporteur to be sanctioned and called for the decision to be reversed.
Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese said on Friday that the U.S. decision to place her under sanctions could have a “chilling effect” on people who engage with her and restrict her movements, but that she planned to continue her work.
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Albanese would be added to the U.S. sanctions list for her actions, which he described as prompting illegitimate prosecutions of Israelis at the International Criminal Court.
Albanese said she now faces asset freezes and potential travel restrictions, warning that the U.S. decision could set a “dangerous” precedent for human rights defenders worldwide.
“There are no red lines anymore ... It is scary,” she told Reuters via video link from Bosnia, where she was attending events for the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide.
“It might block me from moving around. It will have a chilling effect on people normally engaging with me because for American citizens or for green card holders, this is going to be extremely problematic.”
“My plans are to continue what I’ve been doing,” she added.
The White House was not immediately available for comment.
The European Union said it “deeply regrets” the U.S. decision. Rights defenders have also rallied to her defence.
Albanese, an Italian lawyer and academic, has been a vocal critic of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. She recently published a report calling on states at the UN Council to impose an arms embargo and cut off trade and financial ties with Israel, while accusing the U.S. ally of waging a “genocidal campaign” in Gaza.
Israel’s mission in Geneva said the report was “legally groundless, defamatory and a flagrant abuse of her office.” The country has faced accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the ICC over its military assault on Gaza.
Israel strongly denies the accusations and says its campaign amounts to self-defence after the deadly, Hamas-led attack that triggered the war in October, 2023.