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Straits Times
27 minutes ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
UN chief calls US-backed Gaza aid operation unsafe, is killing people
FILE PHOTO: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends a press briefing during the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) at the Centre des Expositions conference centre in Nice, France, June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo UNITED NATIONS - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that a U.S.-backed aid operation in Gaza is 'inherently unsafe,' giving a blunt assessment: 'It is killing people.' Israel and the United States want the U.N. to work through the controversial new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, but the U.N. has refused, questioning its neutrality and accusing the distribution model of militarizing aid and forcing displacement. Guterres said U.N.-led humanitarian efforts are being 'strangled,' aid workers themselves are starving and Israel – as the occupying power - is required to agree to and facilitate aid deliveries into and throughout the Palestinian enclave. "People are being killed simply trying to feed themselves and their families. The search for food must never be a death sentence,' Guterres told reporters. "It is time to find the political courage for a ceasefire in Gaza." Since Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19, allowing limited U.N. deliveries to resume, the United Nations says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid from both the U.N. and GHF operations. A senior U.N. official said on Sunday that the majority of those people were trying to reach GHF sites. A GHF spokesperson said there have been no deaths at or near any of the GHF aid distribution sites. 'It is unfortunate the U.N. continue to push false information regarding our operations,' the GHF spokesperson said. 'Bottom line, our aid is getting securely delivered. Instead of bickering and throwing insults from the sidelines, we would welcome the UN and other humanitarian groups to join us and feed the people in Gaza.' GHF uses private U.S. security and logistics firms to operate. It began operations in Gaza on May 26 and said on Friday so far it has given out more than 48 million meals. The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it had approved $30 million in funding for the GHF and called on other countries to also support the group. Israel and the United States have accused Hamas of stealing aid from the U.N.-led operations, which the militants deny. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
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First Post
30 minutes ago
- Politics
- First Post
'It is killing people': UN chief slams US-backed Gaza aid operation as unsafe
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday slammed the US-backed aid initiative in Gaza, describing it as 'inherently unsafe' and bluntly stating, 'It is killing people' read more UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends a press briefing during the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) at the Centre des Expositions conference centre in Nice, France, on June 10, 2025. Reuters File United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday slammed the US-backed aid initiative in Gaza, describing it as 'inherently unsafe' and bluntly stating, 'It is killing people.' The United States and Israel have pushed for the United Nations to cooperate with the newly formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial aid mechanism. However, the UN has declined to participate, raising concerns about the foundation's neutrality and accusing it of militarising humanitarian assistance and contributing to the forced displacement of civilians. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Guterres said that UN-led humanitarian operations are being 'strangled,' with aid workers themselves facing starvation. He emphasised that Israel, as the occupying power, is legally obligated to allow and facilitate the delivery of aid throughout Gaza. 'People are being killed simply trying to feed themselves and their families. The search for food must never be a death sentence,' Reuters quoted Guterres as telling reporters. 'It is time to find the political courage for a ceasefire in Gaza,' he added. Since Israel eased its 11-week blockade on Gaza on May 19, allowing limited UN aid deliveries to resume, more than 400 Palestinians have been killed while attempting to access assistance from both UN and Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) operations, according to the United Nations. A senior UN official said on Sunday that the majority of those fatalities occurred near GHF distribution sites. GHF has not yet responded to a request for comment on Secretary-General António Guterres' remarks made on Friday, reported Reuters. Earlier this week it said: 'Bottom-line, our aid is getting securely delivered. Instead of bickering and throwing insults from the sidelines, we would welcome the UN and other humanitarian groups to join us and feed the people in Gaza.' GHF, which began operations in Gaza on May 26, relies on private US security and logistics firms to carry out its mission. As of Friday, GHF reported distributing over 48 million meals. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD On Thursday, the US State Department announced it had approved $30 million in funding for GHF and urged other nations to contribute to the initiative. Both Israel and the United States have accused Hamas of diverting aid from UN-led efforts—an allegation the militant group has denied. With inputs from agencies
Express Tribune
30 minutes ago
- Health
- Express Tribune
Israeli strikes kill at least 62 in Gaza, says civil defence
A woman mourns during the funeral of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli airstrike earlier in the day, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, June 26, REUTERS Listen to article Gaza's civil defence agency said that Israeli forces killed at least 62 people on Friday, including 10 who were waiting for aid in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory. The reported killing of people seeking aid marks the latest in a string of deadly incidents near aid sites in Gaza, where a US- and Israeli-backed foundation has largely replaced established humanitarian organisations. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 62 Palestinians had been killed Friday by Israeli strikes or fire across the Palestinian territory. When asked by AFP for comment, the Israeli military said it was looking into the incidents, and denied its troops fired in one of the locations in central Gaza where rescuers said one aid seeker was killed. Bassal told AFP that six people were killed in southern Gaza near one of the distribution sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), and one more in a separate incident in the centre of the territory, where the army denied shooting "at all". Another three people were killed by a strike while waiting for aid southwest of Gaza City, Bassal said. The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory says that since late May, more than 500 people have been killed near aid centres while seeking scarce supplies. GHF has denied that fatal shootings have occurred in the immediate vicinity of its aid points. Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Friday slammed the GHF relief effort, calling it "slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid". It noted that in the week of June 8, shortly after GHF opened a distribution site in central Gaza's Netzarim corridor, the MSF field hospital in nearby Deir el-Balah saw a 190 percent increase in bullet wound cases compared to the previous week. Aitor Zabalgogeaskoa, MSF emergency coordinator in Gaza, said in a statement that under the way in which the distribution centres currently operate: "If people arrive early and approach the checkpoints, they get shot." "If they arrive on time, but there is an overflow and they jump over the mounds and the wires, they get shot". "If they arrive late, they shouldn't be there because it is an 'evacuated zone', they get shot," he added. Meanwhile, Bassal said that ten people were killed in five separate Israeli strikes near the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis, east of which he said "continuous Israeli artillery shelling" was reported Friday. Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said they shelled an Israeli vehicle east of Khan Yunis Friday. The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas-ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said they had attacked a group of Israeli soldiers north of Khan Yunis in coordination with the Al-Qassam Brigades. Bassal added that thirty people were killed in six separate strikes in northern Gaza on Friday, including a fisherman who was targeted "by Israeli warships". He specified that eight of them were killed "after an Israeli air strike hit Osama Bin Zaid School, which was housing displaced persons" in northern Gaza. In central Gaza's al-Bureij refugee camp, 12 people were killed in two separate Israeli strikes, Bassal said. Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers and witnesses. Israel's military said it was continuing its operations in Gaza on Friday, after army chief Eyal Zamir announced earlier in the week that the focus would again shift to the territory after a 12-day war with Iran. Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 56,331 people, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Politics
- Arab News
UN chief says Gazans seeking food must not face ‘death sentence'
NEW YORK CITY: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that hungry people in Gaza seeking food must not face a 'death sentence' as controversy swirls around a new US- and Israeli-backed distribution system. 'People are being killed simply trying to feed themselves and their families. The search for food must never be a death sentence,' Guterres told reporters, without explicitly naming the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, whose operations have led to near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on people desperate to get food. 'Any operation that channels desperate civilians into militarized zones is inherently unsafe. It is killing people,' Guterres added. The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory says that since late May, more than 500 people have been killed near aid centers while seeking scarce supplies. GHF has denied that fatal shootings have occurred in the immediate vicinity of its aid points. Starting in March, Israel blocked deliveries of food and other crucial supplies into Gaza for more than two months, leading to warnings of that the entire population of the occupied Palestinian territory is at risk of famine. The United Nations says Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is illegal under international law. The densely populated Gaza Strip has been largely flattened by Israeli bombing since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas. Israel began allowing food supplies to trickle in at the end of May, using GHF — backed by armed US contractors, with Israeli troops on the perimeter — to run operations. 'The problem of the distribution of humanitarian aid must be solved. There is no need to reinvent the wheel with dangerous schemes,' Guterres said. The UN and major aid groups have refused to work with the GHF, citing concerns it serves Israeli military goals and that it violates basic humanitarian principles by working with one of the sides in a conflict. 'We have the solution — a detailed plan grounded in the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence. We have the supplies. We have the experience. Our plan is guided by what people need,' said the UN chief. He said a 'handful' of medical crossed into Gaza this week, the first shipment in months. 'A trickle of aid is not enough. What's needed now is a surge — the trickle must become an ocean,' said Guterres. Guterres said that as the world focuses on the conflict between Israel and Iran, the suffering of Palestinians must not be 'pushed into the shadows,' calling for 'political courage for a ceasefire.'
Shafaq News
an hour ago
- Health
- Shafaq News
MSF: Gaza aid scheme turns into death trap
Shafaq News - Gaza On Friday, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) called for the immediate dismantling of the Gaza food distribution program Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), warning that the system has caused over 500 deaths and thousands of injuries in the past month. The GHF is a proxy mechanism backed by Israel and the US has been operating four distribution sites under full Israeli control. Each location is fenced, monitored by military watchposts, and guarded with barbed wire and earth mounds. MSF accused Israeli authorities and their partners of turning humanitarian aid into a tool of degradation and violence, forcing starving Palestinians to risk their lives for minimal supplies. 'People are shot whether they arrive early, on time, or late,' said Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, MSF's emergency coordinator in Gaza. Medical teams have seen a sharp rise in gunshot injuries at these sites. The MSF field hospital in Deir al-Balah reported a 190% increase in gunshot patients during the week of June 8. Since June 7, the clinic in Al-Mawasi—normally unequipped for trauma care—has treated over 420 wounded people, averaging more than 10 new patients a day. MSF reiterated that humanitarian aid must never be controlled by warring parties or used to further military aims, urging the Israeli authorities to lift the siege and restore a principled, impartial aid system coordinated by the UN. The Israeli-US food distribution scheme in Gaza is slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid. In one month, 500+ have been killed for seeking Israeli authorities must revert to a principled humanitarian system, coordinated by the UN. — MSF International (@MSF) June 27, 2025
