UNRWA official: Gaza aid scenes resemble "herded animals in pens"

Sam Rose, the acting director of UNRWA in Gaza, described the situation in the enclave as “horrific,” following recent killings at US-Israeli Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid points. Speaking to Al Jazeera from Oxford, Rose said Gaza has reached a new level of devastation, stating: 

“This is what people have been reduced to: literally herded animals in pens.”

Statement by UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini: "Gaza: aid distribution has become a death trap.

Mass casualties including scores of injured and killed among starving civilians due to gunshots this morning. This is according to reports from international medics on ground.

A distribution point by the Israeli American plan was put far south in Rafah

This humiliating system has forced thousands of hungry and desperate people to walk for tens of miles to an area that’s all but pulverized due to heavy bombardment by the Israeli Army.

Aid deliveries and distribution must be at scale and safe. In Gaza, this can be done only through the United Nations including UNRWA.

The State of Israel must lift the siege and allow the UN safe and unhindered access to bring in aid and distribute it safely. This is the only way to avert mass starvation including among 1 million children.

With competing narratives and disinformation campaigns in full gear, international media must be allowed into Gaza to independently report on the ongoing atrocities including this morning’s heinous crime."

UN Human Rights Office  says Starvation is a war crime

The UN Human Rights Office stated on June 2 that deliberately blocking civilians in Gaza from accessing food and humanitarian aid could amount to a war crime, condemning the targeting of people seeking aid as unacceptable.

"For a third day running, people were killed around an aid distribution site run by the 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation'," said Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Former US official: Israel committed war crimes in Gaza

Meanwhile, a former senior Biden administration official now says, “It is without a doubt true that Israel has committed war crimes” in Gaza.