The United Nations rights chief has condemned Israel’s conduct in the besieged Gaza Strip, where deadly Israeli attacks continue unabated even as the country is exchanging missile attacks with regional rival Iran.
Speaking on Monday, Volker Turk said Israel’s “means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza”, where more than 19 months of Israeli attacks have killed at least 55,362 people, including thousands of children, according to health officials.
His comments came as medical sources told Al Jazeera that at least 20 Palestinians have been killed since dawn across Gaza on Monday, including 15 aid seekers near distribution points in Rafah, operated by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by the United States and Israel.
Three more aid seekers were reported killed in northern Gaza, and two in an attack on Gaza City.
“Israel has weaponised food and blocked lifesaving aid,” Turk said as he presented his annual report to the 59th Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“I urge immediate, impartial investigations into deadly attacks on desperate civilians to reach food distribution centres,” he added. “Disturbing, dehumanising rhetoric from senior Israeli government officials is reminiscent of the gravest of crimes.”
Hungry Palestinians ‘running out of options’
The GHF began distributing aid in Gaza at the end of May after Israel partially lifted a nearly three-month total blockade of food, medicines, and other essential items, leading to fears of famine.
The UN and major humanitarian groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF, citing concerns that it prioritises Israeli military objectives over humanitarian needs.
Earlier this month, operations at the GHF aid distribution hubs were also temporarily halted following several incidents of deadly violence in Rafah and the Netzarim Corridor, where Israeli forces opened fire on aid seekers.
On Saturday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said in a statement that at least 274 people have been killed so far and more than 2,000 wounded near aid distribution sites since the GHF began operations.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said the current aid distribution mechanism has caused “chaos and despair” among Palestinians.
“Many hungry Palestinians have run out of options, forced to choose between staying in their homes and starving, or risking their lives to obtain a bag of flour,” he said.
Israel-Iran conflict
Separately on Monday, Turk expressed deep concern over the fighting between Israel and Iran that has killed hundreds of people, including many civilians.
The UN high commissioner for human rights called on the countries to engage in “urgent diplomatic negotiations to end these attacks and find a way forward”.
“The military escalation between Israel and Iran is deeply worrying,” Turk said, calling “for full respect of international law by both sides, in particular the protection of civilians in densely populated areas”.
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