Gaza 'hell on earth', GHF 'sadistic death trap': UN warns as 1000 killed while seeking food
The UN Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) said on Tuesday that its staff members are describing grave conditions and exhaustion in Gaza.
The agency described Gaza as ‘hell on earth’ as its staff members, including doctors and aid workers, are fainting on duty from hunger and exhaustion, Reuters reported.
The UNRWA Chief Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement, “Caretakers, including UNRWA colleagues in Gaza, are also in need of care now. Doctors, nurses, journalists, humanitarians, among them, UNRWA staff are hungry. Many are now fainting due to hunger and exhaustion while performing their duties.”
Lazzarini also described the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as a death trap, saying, “The so-called ‘GHF’ distribution scheme is a sadistic death trap. Snipers open fire randomly on crowds as if they are given a licence to kill.”
The GHF bypasses a UN-led system and uses US security and logistics companies, reported The Guardian. Israel has alleged that Hamas have looted the aid intended for civilians, which the group denies.
According to estimates from the UNRWA, at least 1000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid in Gaza since the end of May. Food prices have also increased by 40 times in Gaza due to the shortage of supplies, according to a post on X (Twitter) made by the UNRWA. The post also said that the aid that is stockpiled in its warehouses could feed “the entire population for over three months”
A majority of the deaths at aid points in Gaza were reported from locations run by the GHF, and the rest of the killings were on routes to other aid checkpoints. The GHF had previously accused the UN of misinformation and told Reuters that such incidents have not occurred.
On Monday, the World Health Organisation said that its facilities in Gaza came under Israeli attack. WHO chief Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Israeli military had entered the staff’s residence in Deir al Balah, Gaza, and forced women and children to evacuate on foot, and they handcuffed, stripped and interrogated the male staff at gunpoint.
"WHO condemns in the strongest terms the attacks on a building housing WHO staff in Deir al Balah in Gaza, the mistreatment of those sheltering there, and the destruction of its main warehouse," WHO said.
A joint statement released on Monday by around 28 countries and the UK condemned the attacks, saying that the war “must end now.”
The statement read, “We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food. It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid. The Israeli Government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable. Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.”
Middle East