UN: Over 600 people were killed at Gaza food distribution centers at the end of May. “It is clear that the Israeli army fired”
Palestinian killed by Israeli troops at a photo distribution center: Eyad Baba / AFP / Profimedia
The UN announced on Friday that 613 people were killed during the distribution of aid in Gaza at the end of May, of which 509 near the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the only authorized organization, which is supported by the United States and Israel, reports by News.ro.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began to distribute food boxes on May 26, after a two -month block imposed by Israel at the entry of any humanitarian aid, despite the warnings of hunger.
The distribution of GHF aid gave birth to chaotic scenes, the Israeli army opening fire repeatedly to try to keep hundreds of desperate Palestinians under control.
“We have registered 613 people killed from the beginning of the foundation operations until June 27, of which 509 near the distribution places of the GHF,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the High UN Human Rights. The other people were killed “near the UN convoys and other organizations,” she added.
UN requires an independent investigation
She explained that these figures are constantly changing, because the High Commissioner has in the meantime received new notifications about killed people. “We are trying to corroborate them,” said the spokesman, mentioning that the pregnancy is difficult due to the lack of access.
“As for the responsible, it is clear that the Israeli army bombarded and fired on the Palestinians who were trying to reach the distribution points. How many people were killed? Who is responsible?” Shamdasani asked. “We need access. We need an independent investigation,” she insisted.
The UN and the main humanitarian organizations refused to collaborate with GHF, saying that it serves the Israeli military objectives and violate the basic humanitarian principles. The foundation, which resorts to armed contractors to ensure the security of its centers, denies any incident “near” the four distribution centers.
“We had no violent incident at our distribution centers”, nor “in the immediate vicinity,” said his president Johnnie Moore on Thursday, an American Evangelical Christian of President Donald Trump.
Israel, whose offensive began one day after an attack by the Palestinian Islamist Movement on October 7, 2023, imposed a humanitarian blockage on the Palestinian territory at the beginning of March. This blockage caused serious shortage of food, medicines and other first -necessity goods and was only partially relaxed when GHF began distributions.
