The United Nations humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said in a statement on Wednesday that the world is watching horrifying scenes day after day of Palestinians being shot, wounded, or killed in the Gaza Strip simply for trying to eat. The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) has recorded the deaths of at least 82 Palestinians and the injuries of at least 506 others, reportedly while they were trying to reach food distribution points in Rafah and Deir al Balah.
âEmergency medical teams have confirmed treating hundreds of trauma cases. Yesterday alone, dozens were declared dead at hospitals after Israeli forces said they had opened fire,â Fletcher said.
He echoed UN Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres's call for immediate, independent investigations, noting that these are not isolated incidents and that the perpetrators must be held accountable. Fletcher stressed that no one should have to risk their life to feed their children.
âAs I have repeatedly stressed, we must be allowed to do our jobs: We have the teams, the plan, the supplies and the experience,â he said.
The humanitarian chief called for all border crossings to be opened, for life-saving aid to be allowed in at scale from all directions, for restrictions on the type and amount of aid that humanitarians can bring in to be lifted, and for delays and denials of aid convoys to be stopped.
Fletcher reiterated his appeal for the ceasefire to be implemented.
âWe value the support of more and more Member States who are joining our call: Let us work,â he said.
On Monday, Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres said he was appalled by reports of Palestinians being killed or injured while seeking assistance. He called for "an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for the perpetrators to be held accountable."
The UN chief emphasized that the unimpeded entry of assistance at scale to meet the enormous needs in Gaza must be restored immediately.
âIsrael has clear obligations under international humanitarian law to agree to and facilitate humanitarian aid. [âŠ] The UN must be allowed to work in safety and security under conditions of full respect of humanitarian principles,â he said.
On Sunday, Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), described the militarized aid distribution scheme established by Israel and the United States as a "death trap" and a âhumiliating system [which] has forced thousands of hungry and desperate people to walk for tens of miles to an area thatâs all but pulverized due to heavy bombardment by the Israeli Army.â
He again demanded that international media be allowed into Gaza to report independently on the ongoing atrocities.
On Tuesday, Volker TĂŒrk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, also called for a prompt and impartial investigation into attacks on civilians accessing food aid and for those responsible to be held accountable.
âAttacks directed against civilians constitute a grave breach of international law, and a war crime,â he said.
âDeadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza, are unconscionable.â
For the third consecutive day on Tuesday, people were killed and injured around aid distribution sites run by the Gaza "Humanitarian" Foundation (GHF).
The United Nations, humanitarian organizations, and many countries around the world firmly oppose the GHF. Despite having "humanitarian" in its name, the entity is regarded as the very opposite of a humanitarian organization. Its establishment for the purpose of weaponizing aid may itself be a crime against humanity or part of a genocide.
The GHF attempts to circumvent the UN and its agencies, which have long delivered humanitarian aid and basic services to Gazans in accordance with international humanitarian law, relevant UN resolutions, and the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.
Last week, Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Ocupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), said that Israel deliberately misused humanitarian language and mechanisms to obscure and facilitate the commission of atrocity crimes in Gaza.
âWe continue to witness a brutal humanitarian camouflage, where the red lines have led to massive atrocities. Israel pretends to promote humanitarian solutions in order to continue its control of Gaza and sustain its systematic denial of life-saving humanitarian aid to the starving population in the besieged strip,â Albanese warned.
âIt is a deliberate strategy â aimed at masking atrocities, displacing the displaced, bombing the bombarded, burning Palestinians alive and maiming survivors.â
The GHF fails at all levels to adhere to humanitarian principles, as it is not based on humanity, nor is it independent, neutral, or impartial. The GHF employs a rationing system for food and essentials that the UN describes as "engineered scarcity" and "a policy of deprivation by design.â
âPalestinians have been presented the grimmest of choices: die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available through Israelâs militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism,â UN human rights chief TĂŒrk said on Tuesday.
âThis militarized system endangers lives and violates international standards on aid distribution, as the United Nations has repeatedly warned.â
Humanitarian needs in Gaza have exploded following 80 days of a total blockade of all commercial and humanitarian supplies. The limited amounts of aid now entering the territory are nowhere near sufficient to support the 2.1 million people in desperate need of emergency aid.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN continues to send supplies into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, including flour, ingredients for community kitchens, and medical items. These supplies are scanned by Israeli authorities before entering Gaza.
On Wednesday, more than 130 pre-cleared truckloads were submitted for a second and final Israeli clearance, but only 50 of them, carrying flour, were approved. Aid agencies are also working hard to collect supplies from Kerem Shalom and bring them closer to those in need inside Gaza.
Since Kerem Shalom reopened, aid agencies have collected fewer than 400 truckloads of aid despite their daily efforts to coordinate access and secure safe routes through the militarized Israeli zone in the south.
However, Israeli authorities continue to obstruct humanitarian aid, which is a severe violation of international humanitarian law. According to the United Nations, at least 500 trucks carrying commercial and humanitarian supplies are needed daily to enter the territory.
Therefore, the quantity of supplies permitted into Gaza is a mere fraction of what is needed to address the urgent needs of 2.1 million people, especially since the entire population of Gaza is at risk of famine.
Meanwhile, Israeli attacks across Gaza have continued, resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths and damage to essential civilian infrastructure.
Since March 18, 2025, Israeli forces have escalated their bombardment of the Gaza Strip from the air, land, and sea and have expanded their ground operations. These military actions have caused more than 17,000 casualties and large-scale displacement.
Since Israel broke the ceasefire, more than 640,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced. Over 200,000 of those displaced have been since mid-May, 54 percent of whom were in the two northern governorates of the territory.
With no safe place to go, many have sought refuge in makeshift shelters and overcrowded displacement sites. Since March 18, 82 percent of the Gaza Strip has been placed under displacement orders or has become part of Israeli-militarized zones, leaving people confined to ever-shrinking spaces.
Following their breach of the ceasefire and resumption of attacks on Gaza, Israeli forces have killed over 4,300 Palestinians, primarily children, women, and the elderly, and injured over 13,000 more. This brings the total recorded death toll since October 2023 to over 54,600, with over 126,500 injuries, most of which are civilian casualties.
However, the true number of casualties is estimated to be much higher. Thousands more remain buried under the rubble as a lack of equipment and insecurity hinder rescue efforts for the wounded and missing. Additionally, thousands more are estimated to have died from indirect causes, such as lack of shelter, medical care, dehydration, and starvation.
Among those identified as killed are over 15,000 children, 460 aid workers, 318 UN staff members, 1,580 healthcare workers, and 220 journalists.
Human rights organizations and human rights experts are pointing out that the blockade and obstruction of humanitarian aid are not only flagrant war crimes, but also part of a genocide against Gaza's population as the Israeli government's actions are apparently aimed at deliberately inflicting living conditions calculated to bring about the physical destruction of a group or part of a group, as defined in the Genocide Convention.
Meanwhile, Israel's war in Gaza continues to be marked by grave war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by Israeli military and government officials.
These crimes include the collective punishment of civilians, the use of starvation as a method of warfare, the denial of humanitarian aid, the targeted killings of civilians, the targeted killings of aid workers, indiscriminate killings, disproportionate attacks, deliberate attacks on civilian objects, attacks on undefended buildings, forcible transfers, torture, and enforced disappearances.
Despite being accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide â some of the worst crimes known to humanity â the Israeli government continues to receive financial, military, economic, and political support from the United States and other allies, such as Germany and the United Kingdom, while the world looks on.
On Wednesday, a draft United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza failed to pass after the United States vetoed it, despite affirmative votes by the other 14 members of the 15-nation body.
The draft resolution expressed grave concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. It also reaffirmed the obligation of all parties to comply with international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law.
In addition to demanding a ceasefire, the draft also demanded the immediate and unconditional lifting of all restrictions on the entry into and distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza, calling for safe and unhindered access for UN agencies and other aid organizations across the territory.