“We are very concerned about the atrocity of crimes committed and the risk that new heinous crimes will occur, where people waiting for essential aid supplements, including food and medicine are attacked… where every time they can be fed or shot”, stressed the spokesperson of the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), Ravina Shamdasani.

The official assured that her office continues to investigate the incident in which at least 15 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed by an attack in front of a clinic in Deir al-Balah, run by the US-based relief group, Project Hope, a partner organization of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The murder of families trying to access life-saving aid was described by UNICEF head Catherine Russell as “inconceivable”.

Killings of Gazans at or near aid distribution sites and humanitarian convoys are now an usual fact, in the context of restrictions on the entry of food, fuel and relief items into the Gaza Strip; and in particular, since the establishment of food distribution sites that are operated outside the UN by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

From May 27, when GHF began operations in the coastal enclave, to July 7, there have been 798 murders, including 615 on aid convoys’ routes, according to OHCHR reports.

“The deaths of nearly 800 people trying to access aid were mainly due to… gunshot wounds,” said Shamdasani.

94 percent of Gaza’s hospitals are now damaged or destroyed, while displacement continues and civilians are being pushed into ever smaller spaces, according to WHO data.

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