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SvennoJ on 07 June 2025
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UNRWA urges Israel to provide evidence against allegations

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says the agency has repeatedly requested “cooperation and evidence” from Israel regarding allegations made against it, yet all requests have gone unanswered

“After 20 months, UNRWA has not received any response, nor has the Government of Israel shared any sufficient evidence,” the agency said in a post on X.

UNRWA stated it remained committed to its mandate and is “ready to deliver humanitarian assistance at scale in Gaza, together with other UN agencies”.

Israel has accused UNRWA employees of involvement in the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, a charge vehemently denied by the UN.

Last year, in the aftermath of those allegations, the Israeli Knesset passed two bills prohibiting UNRWA from conducting activities within Israel’s borders and making it illegal for Israeli officials to have any contact with UNRWA. Those measures have been in effect since January.



8 killed close to aid site in southern Gaza

Our colleagues, quoting a source at Nasser Medical Complex, report that the death toll from Israeli gunfire at the aid distribution site in Rafah has risen to eight.

In total, at least 118 Palestinians have been killed near the US-backed aid points since May 27, according to figures from Gaza’s Government Media Office.

Gaza aid hubs branded as ‘traps’ amid rising casualties

Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network, says the newly established aid distribution hubs of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) have become “traps” where Palestinians are being killed.

The controversial mechanism also serves “the Israeli agenda to force people to displace from Gaza north,” as no distribution sites have been set up in the north, forcing people to walk long distances or relocate south, Shawa told Al Jazeera.

The goal of the GHF is to replace the humanitarian structure consisting of UNRWA and other humanitarian agencies that guaranteed “humanitarian standards, mainly to keep the dignity and protection for Palestinians,” Shawa said.

“People are going there [to GHF’s sites], starving even if they know about the risk of being killed or injured, and they are moving for hours in very difficult, critical, risky roads to get this small parcel to go back to their children, who are also malnourished,” he added.

Shawa’s comments come as the World Food Programme said that 100 percent of people in Gaza face acute levels of food insecurity and 70,000 children there need urgent treatment for acute malnutrition.


Witnesses describe deadly Israeli gunfire aimed ‘at civilians’

We have been reporting on the deadly incident near a US-backed aid centre in Rafah, in which at least eight people have been killed by Israeli gunfire.

Gaza resident Samir Abu Hadid told AFP news agency that thousands of people had gathered at the al-Alam roundabout near the aid site.

“As soon as some people tried to advance towards the aid centre, the Israeli occupation forces opened fire from armoured vehicles stationed near the centre, firing into the air and then at civilians,” Abu Hadid said.


‘He felt he was walking towards death’

We reported earlier eight people were killed by Israeli fire near an aid centre in the Rafah area of southern Gaza.

Al Jazeera spoke to a relative of one of the victims: “These are my husband’s slippers. He went out searching for food. I asked him to get a handful of rice for our starving children. He said he felt he was walking towards death, I begged him not to leave. He insisted to find anything to feed our children,” she said.