At least 500 starving Gazans killed, 4,000 injured since US aid group began operations on May 27, Philippe Lazzarini says
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) called Tuesday for an end to operations of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israel-backed US aid group in the Palestinian enclave.
“The humanitarian community calls for an end to the so-called 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation' (GHF) since it provides nothing but starvation and gunfire to the people of Gaza,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on his official X account.
He said since the US group began operations on May 27, at least 500 starving people were killed and nearly 4,000 injured “while desperately struggling to get food.”
“Under this new abomination, Gaza has gone from 400 aid distribution points to only four militarized distribution sites,” Lazzarini said.
The UNRWA chief called for a UN-led mechanism to manage aid distribution operations in the besieged Gaza Strip.
“Today, 130+ NGOs have called for the restoration of a unified, UN-led coordination and distribution based on international humanitarian law inclusive of UNRWA.”
Over 170 NGOs, including Oxfam, Amnesty International, and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), signed a joint statement that calls for an end to “the deadly Israeli distribution scheme, including the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” and a return to UN-led coordination mechanisms.
“Under the Israeli government's new scheme, starved and weakened civilians are being forced to trek for hours through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones, only to face a violent, chaotic race to reach fenced, militarized distribution sites with a single entry point,” the statement said.
Despite international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has killed more than 56,500 Palestinians in a deadly onslaught in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
