Conditions in Gaza deteriorate even further after GHF shut most aid points
Palestinians are struggling to afford necessities and food available in local markets. The amount of food given by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is not enough, either.
The realities on the ground started to deteriorate sharply after the GHF decided to close down most of the aid centres it operated in the enclave. It kept only one aid centre operational in Rafah city, in the far south of the Strip.
This step has been raising serious concerns as aid workers say one active aid centre will not be enough to meet the catastrophic needs of two million Palestinians. Most of them are injured, displaced, hungry and traumatised.
Signs of hunger everywhere in Gaza
It’s been very difficult watching the death toll rising amid a humanitarian situation that is worsening by the hour. The decision by the GHF to suspend operations in all but one of its distribution sites is devastating and likely to exacerbate an already desperate situation.
We’re talking about 2 million people who rely on these centres due to the GHF monopoly on the aid system.
Hunger is quite visible now. Signs of it are everywhere. People are going hungry and fainting in the street because they don’t eat enough. Any food parcels they might pick up are not enough to feed a family. Families are only allowed to pick up one parcel each time they show up at a distribution centre.
Mostly aid seekers among 12 people killed by Israeli forces in southern Gaza
We have received disturbing reports in the past hour, suggesting that 10 Palestinians have been killed and 16 wounded near the GHF aid centre – the only functioning distribution point located in Rafah. They were transported to the nearby Nasser Hospital after being shot at by Israeli snipers.
We have heard from locals that a great deal of panic erupted at the site of the aid centre during the attack. Later, the security contractors, along with the Israeli military, started to shoot to disperse hungry crowds.
The climbing death toll reflects a blatant Israeli strategy to cause more harm to Palestinians who are trying to get food supplies. People keep taking the risk just to feed their families, despite the fact that aid seekers have been shot at around these centres.
Separately, a source in Nasser Hospital said two people were killed in Israeli shelling of the al-Satar area, northwest of Khan Younis city.
Nearly 800 Palestinians killed at Gaza aid points, convoys: UN human rights office
The UN human rights office says it has recorded at least 798 killings both at aid points run by the US and Israeli-backed GHF and near humanitarian convoys run by other relief groups, including the UN.
“Up until the seventh of July, we’ve recorded now 798 killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, and 183 presumably on the route of aid convoys,” OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May.
