ISTANBUL

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) on Tuesday issued a blistering condemnation of Israel’s current aid distribution mechanism in the Gaza Strip, calling it a “sadistic death trap” responsible for the killing of more than 1,000 starving civilians.

In a strongly worded statement, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said Israeli-backed schemes under the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) had turned the search for food into “a massive hunt of people, in total impunity.”

“Snipers open fire randomly on crowds as if they are given a license to kill,” Lazzarini said, citing recent attacks on desperate aid seekers. “This cannot be our new norm — humanitarian assistance is not the job of mercenaries.”

He said that Gaza’s caregivers, including doctors, nurses, journalists and aid workers, are themselves starving and collapsing from exhaustion while trying to help others.

“No one is spared: caretakers in Gaza are also in need of care,” UNRWA said in a statement. “Seeking food has become as deadly as the bombardments.”

UNRWA highlighted that it has food stockpiled to feed the entire population of Gaza for more than three months — already stored in warehouses like those in Al-Arish, Egypt — but aid convoys remain blocked.

Lazzarini stressed that the United Nations and its humanitarian partners “have the expertise, experience and available resources to provide safe, dignified and at-scale assistance,” urging an immediate end to what he called an “abomination.”

Figures released by Gaza’s Health Ministry showed that more than 1,020 aid seekers were killed since May 27 and over 6,500 injured by Israeli fire at aid distribution points established under Israel’s aid mechanism, which was denounced by UN officials and institutions as “death traps.”

Israel has killed more than 59,100 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system, and led to severe food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.