Israel / Palestine

At least 410 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while trying to fetch from controversial new aid hubs in Gaza – a likely war crime – the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday.

As the pall of starvation hangs over Gaza, UN agencies have sounded the alarm over deadly violence at food distribution points, where over 400 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in recent weeks while trying to access desperately needed humanitarian aid. 

Israeli forces killed at least 60 Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday, most of them as they were seeking food from a US-Israeli distribution scheme, according to local health authorities.

Amid reports of yet another deadly attack on a school in Gaza on Wednesday, the UN’s top aid official Tom Fletcher welcomed growing international calls for lifesaving aid work by established agencies to resume in the war-torn enclave. “We value the support of more and more Member States who are joining our call: Let us work,” Mr. Fletcher said, his comments coinciding with the announcement that the US and Israeli-backed aid hub in southern Gaza operating independently of the UN had been suspended on Wednesday.

A draft resolution calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza failed to pass in the UN Security Council on Wednesday after the United States cast its veto – blocking the initiative backed by all ten elected members of the Council. The text, co-sponsored by Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Somalia – collectively known as the E-10 – received 14 votes in favour, with the US casting the lone vote against.

In Gaza, dozens of Palestinians have been reportedly injured and shot trying to collect aid from the new US and Israeli-backed aid distribution facility operating independently of the UN. … Meanwhile, UN aid teams have continued to appeal to Israel for access to Gaza to deliver and distribute thousands of tonnes of food, medicine and other basic items waiting just outside Gaza.

Diplomats convened at UN Headquarters in New York on Friday to lay the groundwork for a crucial international conference in June, aimed at advancing global efforts towards achieving a two-State solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The preparatory session brought together UN Member States to align expectations and finalise arrangements for eight thematic roundtables that will help shape the conference’s outcome.

The Israeli military issued an Arabic-language statement on Thursday to announce it was “operating with intense force” in 14 areas in the northern Gaza Strip, warning inhabitants to evacuate and accusing “terrorist organisations” of operating there. 

The UN has called for an investigation following reports that Israeli forces opened fire on a diplomatic delegation near the Jenin camp in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday. 

The UN humanitarian affairs chief has welcomed Israel’s decision to allow limited aid to cross into Gaza after 11 weeks of complete blockade – but significantly more is needed “starting tomorrow morning”.