Israeli forces have opened fire again on Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid from a distribution site in Gaza, raising the number of those killed whilst trying to obtain food to more than 75 people in less than six days.
On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded an independent investigation into the repeated mass shootings of aid seekers in Gaza.
“It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food,” he said. “I call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable.”
The Israeli military has shamefully denied targeting civilians, claiming its soldiers fired “warning shots” at individuals who “posed a threat”.
According to Gaza's Health Ministry, three Palestinians were killed and at least 35 wounded when Israeli forces opened fire near an aid distribution site in Rafah operated by the US and Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which Israel and the United States back.
The ministry reported that at least 75 Palestinians had been killed and more than 400 wounded whilst queuing for food since May 27 at aid distribution sites run by GHF.
“The Israeli military opened fire on civilians trying to get their hands on any kind of food aid without any kind of warning,” Al Jazeera reported from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
“This is a pattern that’s been widely condemned by international aid organizations because it enhances the breakdown of civil order without ensuring humanitarian relief can be received by those desperately in need.”
According to reports, Israeli snipers and quadcopter drones routinely monitor aid sites run by GHF.
Monday's killings came hours after Israeli forces shot dead at least 35 Palestinians at two US-Israeli food distribution points in Rafah and central Gaza.
Eyewitnesses and local officials said that Israeli troops opened fire directly at civilians, shooting them in their head or chest.
On Sunday, the Commissioner General of the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said the newly established aid distribution sites in the Gaza Strip have become “death traps” for starving civilians in the blockaded territory.
Philippe Lazzarini further condemned the aid delivery and distribution model introduced by the Israeli regime and the US, saying, “This humiliating system has forced thousands of hungry and desperate people to walk for tens of miles to an area that’s all but pulverized due to heavy bombardment” by the Israeli military.
He also noted that aid deliveries and distribution must be at scale and safe, emphasizing that this can only be done through the United Nations, including UNRWA.
Munir al-Barsh, Director General of the Health Ministry in Gaza, condemned “the international silence regarding the massacres being committed against the starving residents of the Gaza Strip," adding that severe shortages of medical supplies in the territory are producing "dire conditions" at hospitals.
He went on to say that 3000 trucks carrying badly needed medical supplies are currently stalled at the border, accusing Israel of "deliberately spreading infectious diseases and epidemics” by the blockade.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has escalated dramatically since March 18, when the Israeli regime violated its ceasefire agreement with the resistance group Hamas.
According to the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), Gaza suffers from phase 5 famine, and nearly 71,000 children under the age of five are at risk of acute malnutrition.
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