613 killings near Israel-backed aid group’s sites in Gaza! UN
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Deir al-Balah: The UN human rights office said on Friday it had recorded 613 killings in Gaza near humanitarian convoys and at aid distribution points run by an Israeli-backed American organization since it first began operations in late May, the Associated Press reported.
Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the rights office was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings. But she said, “It is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points” operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
She said it was not immediately clear how many of those killings had taken place at GHF sites and how many occurred near convoys.
Speaking to reporters at a regular briefing, Shamdasani said the figures covered the period from May 27 through June 27, and “there have been further incidents” since then.
She said she was basing the information on an internal situation report at the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Shamdasani said the figures, compiled through its standard vetting processes, were not likely to tell a complete picture, and “we will perhaps never be able to grasp the full scale of what's happening here because of the lack of access” for UN teams to the areas.
Israeli airstrikes killed 15 Palestinians in Gaza early on Friday, while another 20 people died in shootings while waiting for aid, the hospital morgue that received their bodies told The Associated Press.
On Thursday, Amnesty International accused Israel and a controversial Israeli- and US-backed aid distribution system in Gaza of using starvation tactics against Palestinians to continue committing genocide amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas.
