The UN Human Rights Office confirmed Friday that 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food since late May, with Israeli forces responsible for the overwhelming majority of deaths. At least 859 perished near U.S./Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid hubs and 514 along convoy routes, transforming life-saving missions into systematic massacres. The announcement follows Friday’s attacks near Khan Yunis that killed 11 more, including two aid-seekers, as Gaza’s civil defense reported Israeli gunfire and airstrikes targeting civilians.
UN officials condemned the GHF’s militarized aid model as a "death trap" violating international humanitarian principles. "Israel’s mechanism weaponizes food for civilians, constituting a war crime," stated UN rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan. Despite Israel’s claims of easing restrictions, only 200 aid trucks entered Gaza Thursday, less than half the 500 daily required to avert famine. Meanwhile, COGAT’s touted airdrops delivered merely 43 pallets, a cruel parody of sufficiency as starvation deaths hit 154, including 89 children.
Survivors and medical staff describe methodical brutality: Israeli snipers shoot unarmed civilians in crowds, drones strike families carrying flour, and tanks shell queues at GHF sites. "My son returned as a body, not with bread," testified Umm Raed, whose child was gunned down in Netzarim. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz corroborated orders to "fire on crowds to keep them from distribution centers," while the Center for Constitutional Rights warned GHF’s complicity may constitute genocide. Despite Israel dismissing these reports as "blood libel," hospitals like Nasser overflow with gunshot victims. 13-year-olds with head wounds, young men paralyzed by neck bullets .
International Complicity and Palestinian Resistance
The GHF, funded by the U.S. and Israel employs American contractors like Safe Reach Solutions, who join IDF troops in shooting civilians. "We witnessed contractors firing indiscriminately," revealed a former GHF worker. While the UN and 170+ NGOs demand GHF’s immediate closure, the U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff inspected sites hours after 91 aid-seekers were slaughtered at Zikim crossing. Amid the carnage, Palestinians persist: "I fear becoming another martyr," said Mahmoud al-Ghura, "but my children scream from hunger".