FILE PHOTO: Palestinians carry aid supplies from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. (Credit: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled)
Some 613 people have been killed during aid distribution in Gaza since the end of May, including 509 near the sites of the only GHF foundation supported by the United States and Israel, the U.N. said on Friday.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began distributing food boxes on May 26, after more than two months of a blockade imposed by Israel on the entry of any humanitarian aid despite famine risk warnings. GHF distributions have led to chaotic scenes, with the Israeli army repeatedly firing on thousands of desperate Palestinians gathered at the foundation's centers.
"We have recorded 613" people killed since the foundation's operations began until May 27, including 509 "near the GHF distribution sites," Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said at a press briefing in Geneva. The other people were killed "near United Nations and other organizations' convoys," she added.
She explained that these figures are constantly increasing since the High Commissioner has received new notifications of people killed, "which we are striving to corroborate." The task is difficult due to a lack of access.
"As for those responsible, it is clear that the Israeli army bombarded and shot Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points. How many people were killed? Who is responsible?" Shamdasani explained. "We need access. We need an independent investigation."
'Immense trauma service'
The World Health Organization, cited by Reuters, said that due to shootings during food distributions, the Nasser Hospital in Gaza now operates as "an immense trauma service." Referring to the medical staff at Nasser Hospital, Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the West Bank and Gaza, told journalists in Geneva: "They've been seeing daily injured for weeks ... the majority of them come from supposedly safe food distribution sites not controlled by the U.N. The hospital now functions as an immense trauma service."
The U.N. and major aid organizations have refused to work with the GHF, stating that it serves Israeli military objectives and violates basic humanitarian principles. The foundation, which uses armed contractors to secure its centers, denies any incident "near" its four distribution sites.
"We had no violent incidents at our distribution sites," nor "in the immediate vicinity," its president, Johnnie Moore, an ally of President Donald Trump, told the press on Thursday.
Israel, whose offensive began following an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, imposed a humanitarian blockade on the Palestinian territory in early March. This blockade led to severe shortages of food, medicine, and other essential goods, and was only partially eased when GHF began its distributions.
