Gaza: UN relief chief ‘appalled’ at reports of dozens killed waiting for aid

As the death toll in Gaza rose to more than 30,000 killed in the besieged and bombarded enclave since the onset of war, conflicting reports emerged on Thursday over the death of more than 100 Palestinians waiting for desperately needed aid. 

“Even after close to five months of brutal hostilities, Gaza still has the ability to shock us,” said UN relief chief Martin Griffiths in a post on X.

‘Life draining out of Gaza’

“I am appalled at the reported killing and injury of hundreds of people during a transfer of aid supplies west of Gaza City today,” he said. “Life is draining out of Gaza at terrifying speed.”

Intense Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement and destruction of civilian infrastructure, according to the latest situation report from UN humanitarian agency OCHA.

Ground operations and heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups also continue to be reported, particularly in northern Gaza, Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis, the report said.

Fears of Rafah invasion

Fears persist over the planned Israeli incursion into Rafah, where more than one million people are seeking shelter from the violence sparked by the Hamas-led terror attacks in early October that killed almost 1,200 people in Israel and left 240 taken hostage.

Rafah is under fire every day, said Georgios Petropoulos, OCHA’s head of the Gaza sub-office.

“We will do our best” to serve people in need with the resources at hand, he added. “We are needed here. We need people here to stand for hope and human dignity.”

Famine and health crises

Unless more aid is delivered, UN officials warned of an impending famine in Gaza. Local health authorities reported that six infants have already died as a result of malnutrition and dehydration, the OCHA report stated.

Besieged hospitals continue to grapple with raids and attacks, according to doctors trapped in the enclave who continue to serve patients as best they can.

As health centres and hospitals persevere amid raids and dangerous shortages of lifesaving supplies, a Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) medical point in Jabalya, in northern Gaza, is receiving a daily average of 100 to 150 patients suffering from hepatitis A.

Meanwhile, stalled aid deliveries idle on border crossings with Egypt and Israel. Media reports indicate that Israel civilians were preventing trucks from entering Gaza at the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Massive deaths, injuries near aid trucks

Desperation among Gazans has multiplied as aid trickles into the enclave, with UN officials stating that the current, restricted deliveries do not even meet the minimum demands.

Early Thursday, it was reported that more than 100 people were killed in Gaza City, where aid trucks attempted to deliver food and other lifesaving supplies close to an Israeli checkpoint.

Initial reports from the Gaza heath ministry said that Israeli forces had fired into the crowd of thousands.

The Israeli Defense Force said soldiers had opened fire in a “limited response” to deter crowds from advancing on their checkpoint but news reports suggest that amid chaotic scenes and a scramble for aid, many casualties were caused by trucks running people over. 

Joint appeal to resume funding for UNRWA

Also on Thursday, 17 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the European Union (EU) signed a joint appeal to restore funding to the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA.

“We urge the EU and Member States to take note that other aid agencies cannot replicate UNRWA’s central role in the humanitarian response in Gaza, and amidst the current crisis many will struggle to even maintain their current operations without UNRWA’s partnership and support,” they said in a statement.

The joint appeal comes after major UNRWA donors suspended funding following Israel’s allegations that a dozen staff members were involved in the Hamas attacks in October that triggered the current devastating war in the enclave. The donors withheld funds pending ongoing independent UN investigations of the matter.

“The suspension of funding to the main aid provider for millions of Palestinians in Gaza will impact life-saving assistance for over two million people,” said UNRWA, which serves almost 6 million Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, with education, healthcare and other essential services.

“Don’t look away from Gaza,” OCHA’s Mr. Petropoulos said. “Find the truth of what’s happening and believe in humanity. The only good thing war can do is to end.”

Gazans eating wild plants to survive

UN News has learned that out of desperation, some Gazans have resorted to selling wild plants with little nutritional value, in the markets of their devastated enclave. In this special report, Ziad Taleb spoke to some of the young people trying to make a living, despite the ever-present dangers.

Their journey begins in the open fields every morning in search of these plants, which include cheeseweed - known locally as khubeezeh - which have been eaten by Palestinians as side dishes for generations. Now they have become a major food source for Gazans.

Living conditions in the besieged enclave have reached an abysmal state and are systematically deteriorating, as the latest round of violence that began on 7 October with the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel, continues to wreak havoc on the lives of Palestinian civilians. 

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), at least one in four households in Gaza now faces catastrophic levels of food insecurity or famine-like conditions. 

Residents of Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza say that cheeseweed prices have risen sharply since harvesting them has become common practice. In the period before the war, edible wild plants were free to anyone who wanted to pick them, but now people are forced to buy them with food stocks critically low and humanitarian assistance scarce. 

From pharmacy student to street vendor

Young Ahmed Fayyad raises his voice in the markets of Deir Al-Balah to attract attention to his goods.

There is produce available for those who can afford it, thanks to the ingenuity of the local wartime economy. But resorting to wild plants as a staple, points to the dire need and lack of nutrition that most now feel across Gaza.

 He was a pharmacy student at one of Gaza’s universities just a few months ago, but his situation now is indicative of the thousands of young people who have their dreams disrupted by the war. 

To support himself and his family, Ahmed has turned to selling cheeseweed on the street after being recently displaced by the intensifying fighting in the southern city of Khan Yunis. 

He spoke to UN News in the markets of Deir Al-Balah and described the suffering of young people in the city: “People who sell cheeseweed just want to make an income and work. 

“There is no source of income, they have been sitting at home for five months, and they want to make money. They want to feed their kids, and they also need goods like diapers, milk, and other things. They have responsibilities. They say to themselves ‘I’m going to make a living by selling cheeseweed or anything else, even if it's grass.” 

Abu Ali was displaced from the Shuja'iyya neighbourhood in Gaza City. He said cheeseweed is the cheapest thing on the market and is widely available. Other food items are simply out of reach. “If we want to buy a bottle of cooking oil today, it costs about 20 shekels ($5.56). Good food is expensive,” he added. 

A land devoid of basic necessities

The UN food and agriculture agency (FAO) says that over 46 percent of land for growing crops in the Gaza Strip has been destroyed as a result of the war, and 97 percent of its water is unfit for human consumption. 

According to reports by the UN relief agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the aid entering the Gaza Strip provides the needs of no more than three percent of its population. 

Before the start of this latest conflict, 500 trucks of commercial and humanitarian supplies entered Gaza every day. Today that number has dwindled to an average of 98 trucks this month, all of which pass through the Rafah and Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossings to the south.

The UN has been unable to deliver any aid since 23 January to areas north of the Gaza Valley, where famine is looming, and people have been forced to resort to eating animal feed to stay alive. 

UN Humanitarians on the ground in the occupied Palestinian territory report that aid convoys heading to northern Gaza continue to come under fire and are being denied access by Israeli authorities.