Gaza: UN chief demands probe as more killed at aid site

Times of Oman

2 days ago

Witnesses and relief workers on Tuesday said that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza had fired on Palestinian civilians waiting for aid for the second time in three days. Medics said at least 27 people were killed.
The IDF said that it had fired at people who "posed a threat" near the the Al-Alam roundabout in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The location is close to an aid center run by the controversial US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid center.
Witnesses reported being fired at by drones and helicopters.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk condemned the shootings, saying: "Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza are unconscionable...Attacks directed against civilians constitute a grave breach of international law and a war crime."
UN's Guterres saying killings are 'unacceptable'
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday had called for an independent investigation into the deaths of dozens of Palestinians near an aid distribution site in Gaza, prompting a fierce response from Israel.
Guterres said in a statement that he was "appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in Gaza."
"It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food," the UN leader's statement said.
"I call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable," Guterres said.
Aid workers and civilians said on Sunday that Israeli forces fired on Palestinians waiting to receive aid close to a distribution site in Gaza. Journalists also reported receiving an off the record statement from the Israeli military saying that they had fired on "suspects" who posed a threat.
At least 21 were killed and scores more injured, according to a Red Cross field hospital and numerous witnesses.
Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Guterres' statement as a "disgrace," and criticized him for ignoring the role of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Hamas, which is in charge of Gaza, is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the US and several other countries.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein wrote in a post on X that Guterres' statement did not mention "the fact that Hamas is the one shooting civilians and trying to prevent them from collecting aid packages."
Marmorstein's claims have not been confirmed by any other source.
Recalling the shooting
Witness Mohammed Abu Deqqa told French news agency AFP that initially the people gathered on Sunday thought warning shots were being fired by the Israeli army, but then the shooting intensified.
"I began to see people lying on the ground, covered in blood. That was around 5:30 am," he said. "People started running, but many couldn't escape. The bullets were chasing people even as they tried to flee."
According to AFP, its photos taken around 5:40am showed civilians using donkey carts to transport bodies shortly after sunrise.