In the shadow of the Iran war, the daily bloodbath in the Gaza Strip continues. On Monday, over 40 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, reports Al Jazeera. And already at dawn on Tuesday, the day's figure was over 20, reports AFP.
Most of the fatalities occur when Palestinians queue to receive emergency aid from the new Israeli-American system led by the organization GHF. According to Israel, they only shoot at people who behave suspiciously and pose a threat, but many are hit by bullets every day.
UN: "An abomination"
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has only a handful of distribution centers and began its efforts to distribute emergency aid in Gaza at the end of May. This happened after Israel's blockade in the spring and after the UN and other established organizations were shut out. GHF has been heavily criticized, its strict selection and digital surveillance of those who receive help are described by experts as an attempt to use food as a military weapon. Among other things, those seeking help are forced to undergo facial recognition tests so that Israel can determine if they are known Hamas members or not.
The terrorist-stamped Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023 triggered the ongoing Gaza war.
The UN repeated its condemnation on Tuesday. Using food as a weapon is a war crime, it says in a written comment from Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. He urges the Israeli military to "stop shooting at people" who are trying to get food, writes AFP.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN's aid organization for Palestinian refugees Unrwa, on the other hand, calls the GHF system "an abomination".
The newly created so-called aid mechanism is an abomination that humiliates and degrades people. It is a death trap that takes more lives than it saves, he says at a press conference in Berlin according to AFP.
Focus on hostages
In Israel, meanwhile, impatience is growing around the remaining hostages held by Palestinian Hamas since the start of the war.
"Whoever can bring about a ceasefire with Iran can also stop the war in Gaza," writes the hostages' relatives in an appeal according to the newspaper Haaretz.
"After twelve days when the Israeli people could not sleep due to Iran, we can now return to not being able to sleep due to the hostages," it continues.
"The twelve-day operation is over, it's time to end the 627-day war and ensure an Israeli victory."
