ISTANBUL

The Israeli army kills an average of 100 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip daily, in addition to those dying of starvation and lack of medical care, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Wednesday.

“On average, 100 people are reported killed every day in Gaza due to the Israeli military operation or shootings at the ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’ food points. Meanwhile, others die of hunger or lack of medical care.”

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement on US social media company X.

Israel has killed over 66,100 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave uninhabitable and led to a famine.

On May 27, Israel launched a separate aid distribution scheme through the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), bypassing the UN and international humanitarian agencies.

Since then, nearly 2,600 people have been killed and 19,000 others injured by Israeli fire while collecting aid at distribution points.

“The growing death toll is fueling a growing indifference,” Lazzarini said, calling for documenting the ongoing Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip.

“The suffering must be heard and attended to,” he said, renewing his call for an immediate ceasefire.

Separately, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty reiterated support for UNRWA’s efforts to help Palestinian refugees in various areas, especially in Gaza. This came during his meeting with Lazzarini on the sidelines of the Munich Leaders Meeting in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

According to a Foreign Ministry readout, Abdelatty stressed the importance of continuing to provide financial and political support for the UN agency.

He called on the international community “to pressure Israel to allow UNRWA’s relief convoys into Gaza, especially in light of the famine that the Gaza Strip is facing as a result of Israeli starvation policies.”

In October 2024, following claims by the Israeli government that some UNRWA staff were allegedly involved in attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel blocked UNRWA operations in the West Bank and Gaza after a Knesset vote.

UNRWA, founded in the aftermath of the 1948 Palestinian Nakba, also known as the Catastrophe, provides aid to approximately 5.9 million Palestinians across five main regions: Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.