Gaza: UN says nearly 800 killed near aid centers since May – DW – 07/11/2025
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported on Friday that at least 798 people have been killed trying to access aid in the Gaza Strip since the end of May.
Of those deaths, 615 were recorded at or near humanitarian aid distribution hubs operated by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to UN human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani.
Another 183 people had been killed "presumably on the routes of aid convoys" conducted by United Nations and other aid organizations, she told reporters in Geneva, where one of the four major UN offices is located.
"This is nearly 800 people who have been killed while trying to access aid," she said. "Most of the injuries are gunshot injuries," she added.
GHF operations, which effectively sidelined a vast UN aid delivery network in Gaza, have been blighted by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on civilians who are trying to receive aid.
The figures from the UN were reported as at least 10 more people were reportedly killed on Friday near an aid distribution site in Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip.
About 70 other people were wounded in the incident, the Hamas-controlled Gaza health authority reported.
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This all comes as negotiators from Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas — which is classified as a terrorist organization by the German government, the EU, the US and some Arab states — are locked in indirect talks in Qatar about a possible ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he hoped a deal for a 60-day halt in hostilities could be agreed upon in the coming days.
The GHF, which began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May after Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade, told the Reuters news agency that the UN figures were "false and misleading."
"The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid site have been linked to UN convoys," a GHF spokesperson said.
"Ultimately, the solution is more aid," the spokesperson said. "If the UN (and) other humanitarian groups would collaborate with us, we could end or significantly reduce these violent incidents."
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The OHCHR said it based its figures on sources such as data from hospitals in Gaza, cemeteries, families, Palestinian health authorities, NGOs and its partners on the ground.
Shamdasani said most of the injuries to Palestinians in the vicinity of aid distribution hubs since May 27 were caused by gunshots.
She said there was particular concern about "atrocity crimes being committed where people are lining up for essential supplies such as food."
In response to the GHF's casting doubt on the OHCHR figures, Shamdasani said: "It is not helpful to issue blanket dismissals of our concerns — what is needed is investigations into why people are being killed while trying to access aid."
Israel says its forces operate around the aid sites to prevent supplies from falling into the hands of militants.
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