Unrwa chief slams US-Israeli aid distribution system in Gaza as 'war crime'
The commissioner-general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), Philippe Lazzarini, has condemned the "lethal" US-Israeli relief delivery mechanism in Gaza, as over two million are left starving across the besieged enclave.
In a post on X, Lazzarini indicated that Palestinian lives "have been so devalued", as hundreds have been killed at aid distribution checkpoints
"It is now the routine to shoot & kill desperate & starving people while they try to collect little food from a company made of mercenaries," he said.
The UN and aid organisations have accused the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which employs private American security and logistics workers, of militarising humanitarian aid.
"A lame, medievale [sic] and lethal system that is deliberately harming people under the camouflage of 'humanitarian aid' with Lies, Deceit, Cruelty," the Unrwa chief further expressed.
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"Inviting starving people to their death is a war crime. Those responsible of this system must be held accountable. This is a disgrace & a stain on our collective consciousness."
Lazzarini urged that humanitarian principles "must be reinstated", adding that experts must be allowed into the Gaza Strip to provide assistance.
'Execution site': Palestinians face death collecting food at US-Israeli Gaza aid points Read More »
The Israeli government has been accused by rights groups of using starvation as a weapon of war, as Palestinians - including children - have been dying from starvation-related complications.
Aid distribution sites have however become a greater danger than famine according to the people in Gaza.
At least 47 Palestinians were killed since the early hours of Wednesday, including 14 aid workers, Al Jazeera reported.
Since GHF launched its operations three weeks ago, MEE's Gaza-based correspondent has reported that at least 420 Palestinians have been killed and more than 3,000 others wounded by Israeli fire near three aid distribution sites in central and southern Gaza.
'You go there to get food, but you never know if you'll make it back,' one Palestinian in Gaza told MEE this week, describing the GHF hubs as 'an execution site'.
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza noted that in just the past 24 hours, over 140 people were killed - many of them at the aid site - bringing the death toll to more than 55,630 since 7 October 2023.
Shortage of essentials and fuel
As the death toll of aid-seekers rise, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has only deepened.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Israel's ongoing "unacceptable" killing of relief-seekers in the Gaza Strip, warning that the needs of Palestinians in the besieged enclave "remains unmet".
UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said at a news conference on Tuesday that the UN chief "continues to call for an immediate and independent investigation into all such reports and for accountability to be established".
Haq stressed that Israel has "clear obligations under international humanitarian law" to facilitate adequate humanitarian relief.
According to Unrwa, the health sector in the blockaded Strip is in a "critical situation", with 45 percent of essential supplies out of stock.
"Nearly a quarter more could run out within six weeks," the agency warned, adding that vital medicine and blood products are almost entirely depleted.
Meanwhile, the health ministry in Gaza has indicated that the Israeli army has been prohibiting international organisations from providing fuel aid to hospitals, arguing that the areas experiencing shortages are located in Israeli-designated red zones.
For over 100 days, no fuel has entered #Gaza, and attempts to retrieve fuel stocks from evacuation zones have been denied. This is pushing the health system closer to the brink of collapse.
17 hospitals, 7 field hospitals and 43 primary health centers — barely running on… pic.twitter.com/Az3hx167Ek — Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) June 16, 2025
The Israeli military has ordered forcible expulsions across the Gaza Strip, designating red zones as "dangerous combat zones".
The ministry warned that the obstruction of fuel aid "threatens to stop operations" in healthcare centres, which are dependent on electrical generators.
"The amount of fuel in the hospitals is enough for three days only," it further noted.
In a post earlier in the week, director-general of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that for over a hundred days, no fuel has entered the Gaza Strip, with attempts to retrieve stocks from red zones denied.
"This is pushing the health system closer to the brink of collapse," he warned.
Communication cut off across Gaza
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said the recent blackout was caused by a new outage along one of the main routes, the result of ongoing Israeli attacks on internet and landline infrastructure.
'Popular Forces': Who are the Gaza gangsters being armed by Israel? Read More »
"There has been a new outage in the fibre optic line, and as a result, there are currently no communications services in southern and central Gaza," said Laith Daraghmeh, the executive director of the regulatory body.
Several attempts in the past week have been made to fix damage from ongoing Israeli destruction of telecommunication and internet infrastructure.
Earlier this week, the Government Media Office said that this marked the 10th complete communication blackout in the Gaza Strip, calling it as "a crime aimed at obscuring the truth and deepening the humanitarian catastrophe".
"The widespread and recurring interruption of communications and the internet cannot be considered a technical or accidental failure," it said.
"Rather, it is a deliberate and premeditated crime aimed at isolating the Gaza Strip from the outside world, obscuring the truth, and depriving citizens of the most basic necessities of life, safety, communication, and assistance"
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