The United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday that the “weaponisation” of food for civilians in Gaza constitutes a war crime, in its strongest remarks yet on a new model of aid distribution run by an Israeli-backed organisation.
The US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began food distribution operations in Gaza in late May, after Israel completely cut off supplies into the occupied Palestinian territory for more than two months, sparking warnings of mass famine.
The UN and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF — an officially private effort with opaque funding — over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
Since the organisation began operating, “the Israeli military has shelled and shot Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points, leading to many fatalities”, UN human rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters at a Geneva press briefing.
Kheetan said more than 410 people have been killed by gunshots or shells fired by the Israeli military while trying to reach GHF distribution sites since it began operating,
The death toll came from Palestinian health authorities and other sources, including non-governmental organisations and was in the process of being verified by his office, he said.
“Desperate, hungry people in Gaza continue to face the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risk being killed while trying to get food,” he said, describing the system as “Israel’s militarised humanitarian assistance mechanism”.
“The weaponisation of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime and, under certain circumstances, may constitute elements of other crimes under international law.”
Asked whether Israel was guilty of that war crime, he said: “The legal qualification needs to be made by a court of law.”
Israel has long rejected accusations it has committed war crimes in Gaza, and blames Hamas fighters for harm to civilians for operating among them, which the militant group denies.
Aid system an ‘abomination’, UNRWA chief says
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, also criticised the GHF on Tuesday.
“The newly created so-called aid mechanism is an abomination that humiliates and degrades desperate people,” Lazzarini said at a press conference in Berlin. “It is a death trap costing more lives than it saves,” he said.
UNRWA had long spearheaded aid efforts in the region, but was sidelined by the GHF’s operations.
Israel has accused UNRWA of providing cover for Hamas militants and earlier this year banned the agency from operating on Israeli soil or contacting officials.
On Tuesday, Lazzarini called for UNRWA to regain access to the Palestinian territory and restart its aid efforts.
Palestinians travelling to an aid centre set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Relief Foundation earlier this month. Source: Anadolu / Getty Images
“The humanitarian community, including UNRWA, has the expertise and must be allowed to do their job and provide assistance with respect and dignity,” he said.
“There is no other alternative to address the challenges of spreading hunger in the Gaza Strip.”
More than 20 killed waiting for aid in Gaza in most recent incident
On Tuesday, Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed 21 people waiting for aid near a distribution site in the centre of the Palestinian territory, the latest deadly incident targeting aid-seekers.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 21 people were killed and around 150 wounded “as a result of the Israeli occupation forces’ targeting of gatherings of citizens waiting for aid … in the central Gaza Strip with bullets and tank shells” in the early hours of Tuesday.
Israel launched its war on Gaza after Palestinian Hamas militants attacked in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than two million and causing a hunger crisis.
