875 Palestinians killed at Gaza aid sites: UN
GENEVA/BRUSSELS: The UN rights office said on Tuesday it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks at aid points in Gaza run by the US and Zionist entity-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and convoys run by other relief groups, including the United Nations. The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, while the remaining 201 were killed on the routes of other aid convoys. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a UN-led system.
The GHF, which began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May after Zionist entity lifted an 11-week aid blockade, previously told Reuters that such incidents have not occurred on its sites and accused the UN of misinformation, which it denies. The GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest UN figures.
KHAN YUNIS: Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Zionist tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip.-- AFP
'The data we have is based on our own information gathering through various reliable sources, including medical human rights and humanitarian organizations,' Thameen Al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva.
The United Nations has called the GHF aid model 'inherently unsafe' and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards. The GHF said on Friday it had delivered more than 70 million meals to Gaza Palestinians in five weeks, and that other humanitarian groups had 'nearly all of their aid looted' by Hamas or criminal gangs. The Zionist army previously told Reuters in a statement that it was reviewing recent mass casualties and that it had sought to minimize friction between Palestinians and the Zionist Defense Forces by installing fences and signs and opening additional routes.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has previously cited instances of violent pillaging of aid, and the UN World Food Program said last week that most trucks carrying food assistance into Gaza had been intercepted by 'hungry civilian communities'. Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers on Tuesday discussed options for action against Zionist entity over the war in Gaza - but looked unlikely to agree on any. The bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has put forward 10 potential steps after Zionist entity was found to have breached a cooperation deal between the two sides on human rights grounds. The measures range from suspending the entire accord or curbing trade ties to sanctioning Zionist ministers, imposing an arms embargo and halting visa-free travel.
Despite growing anger over the devastation in Gaza, EU states remain divided over how to tackle Zionist entity and diplomats say there appears to be no critical mass for any move. 'I can't predict how the discussion will go,' Kallas said, ahead of the foreign ministers' talks in Brussels. She said the main focus would likely be on how the EU could leverage improvements to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
That comes after Kallas on Thursday announced a deal with Zionist Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, to open more entry points and allow in more food. Gaza's two million residents face dire humanitarian conditions as Zionist entity has severely limited aid during its war with Palestinian militant group Hamas. 'We see some positive signs when it comes to border crossings open, we see some positive signs of them reconstructing the electricity lines, providing water, also more trucks of humanitarian aid coming in,' Kallas said Monday. But she said the situation in Gaza remained 'catastrophic'. 'Of course, we need to see more in order to see real improvement for the people on the ground,' she said. – Agencies
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