The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Gaza aid site horror continues as more starving people shot trying to get food
Amid intensifying hopes for a new Gaza ceasefire, UN humanitarians confirmed disturbing details on Friday of continued killings and injuries of Palestinians desperately seeking food at aid sites.
Speaking from Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization (WHO)’s representative in the occupied Palestinian territory said that “scores of Palestinians” trying to access food have been killed and injured in multiple attacks.
“Life is almost like it’s worth one bag of flour… That's the insane thing [which] is happening,” he said.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva, he insisted that the “senseless killing” in the Strip must stop.
Dr. Peeperkorn stressed that most of the casualties, directly reported to WHO by both health workers and by the victims’ families and friends, were related to “the so-called ‘safe’ non-UN food distribution sites” operated by an entity known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Since late May, this militarized aid distribution model, backed by Israel and the United States, has sought to sideline the UN and its humanitarian partners. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called the model "inherently unsafe."
Dr. Peeperkorn said that the desperation of a hungry population is leading to mass casualty incidents also around the few aid trucks coming into Gaza, “and we all know why: because way too little food comes in”. A blockade which lasted more than 12 weeks has been followed by “just a trickle” of aid entering the Strip, he said.
“Gaza needs to be flooded by food,” Dr. Peeperkorn insisted, “so we stop that scramble for food from desperate people.” He pointed out that during the two-month ceasefire that ended on 18 March, the looting and violence around aid sites had quickly “subsided” because the UN and its partners had been allowed to bring in significant quantities of aid.
The UN health agency representative spoke of his visit on Thursday to Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in the south of the Strip, which for weeks has seen “daily injuries in the tens and hundreds.” The health facility is struggling to function amid dire shortages of fuel and medical supplies.
“Now you cannot even call it a general referral hospital – it’s operating as one massive trauma ward,” Dr. Peeperkorn said, mentioning that he saw patients undergoing intubation procedures on the hospital floor.
There, he saw a 13-year-old boy “shot in the head, fighting for his life,” who had been rendered quadriplegic.
“His father… approaching me – ‘You need to assist me. My boy needs to be medevac’ed out,’” he recounted, describing the man as “completely traumatized and overwhelmed”.
The WHO official said that since the end of the last ceasefire on 18 March, only seven medical evacuations have been allowed to take place (these have involved a total of 370 patients and 504 of their companions – the latest one on Wednesday this week, to Jordan and Türkiye).
This is a drop in the ocean compared to the actual needs for medical evacuations, however. According to the agency’s estimations at least 10,000 people in Gaza need medical evacuations, and Dr. Peeperkorn called for “all routes to open up, including to East Jerusalem and the West Bank”.
Describing the trauma cases, he spoke of “mainly young boys” who go to the distribution sites to get food for their families and get shot “in the head, in the neck, in the chest, in the abdomen, on the knees”.
“No parent is prepared to witness this,” he said. “There is no roadmap this kind of heartbreak.”
With international media access to Gaza completely blocked, Dr Peeperkorn said that he wished that journalists could be present in Nasser Medical Complex, adding, “you could witness it for yourself and you could ask those patients, you could ask the fathers and you could ask their friends” about the violence at aid distribution sites.
The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said that the Office recorded 613 killings “both at GHF points and near humanitarian convoys” over the course of a month since the start of operations by the GHF on 27 May. Following the press briefing she clarified that out of this total, 509 killings were at or near GHF distribution sites.
Ms. Shamdasani added that OHCHR is continuing to corroborate new accounts of casualties coming in.
According to media reports quoting officials in Nasser Hospital, more deaths near distribution sites in southern Gaza occurred on Friday.
The OHCHR spokesperson highlighted “the challenges of verifying information because we don't have eyes and ears on the ground”.
“International press is not being allowed and neither are we,” she said. “We are doing what we can to try to verify these figures, but there's a time lag and we will perhaps never be able to grasp the full scale of what's happening here because of the lack of access.”
-Ends -
STORY Gaza aid site casualties WHO - OHCHR 4 July 2025
TRT: 3:06”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 4 JULY 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley.
2. Medium shot: Journalists in the Press room.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “This senseless killing in Gaza must stop. These multiple attacks, which we see in recent days, actually for weeks now, hitting sites hosting displaced people, specifically people trying to access food, you know, have been killed and injured in this. They've killed and injured scores and scores of Palestinians.”
4. Medium shot: Journalist in the Press room.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “Life is almost like it’s worth one bag of flour or something like that. That's the insane thing what is happening and it's a majority of the casualties directly reported to us by the health workers, but also by the families, was all related to the so-called safe non-UN food distribution sites.”
6. Wide shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens; journalist in the Press room.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “A 13-year-old boy shot in the head, fighting for his life, being quadriplegic, et cetera, in the emergency room and his father, I mean like approaching me, you know, ‘You need to assist me. My boy needs to be medevac’ed out. They cannot do anything here’, et cetera. And completely traumatized and overwhelmed.”
8. Wide shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “That they got shot in the head, in the neck, in the chest, in the abdomen, on the knees, et cetera - that's definitely there. And it would be great if the press would be in Nasser Medical Complex or those hospitals, you could witness it for yourself and you could ask those patients, you could ask the fathers and you could ask their friends.”
10. Wide shot: Journalists in the Press room; speaker on screens.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “Gaza needs to be flooded by food. So we stop that scramble for food, from desperate people, maybe organize people who want to get their hands on the food, etcetera. The markets need to be flooded, and we saw that also when there was this ceasefire very quickly, any looting around everywhere or any violence, it stopped, it subsided.”
12. Wide shot: Journalists in the Press room; speaker on screens.
13. SOUNDBITE (English) – Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR): “The latest figures that we have, we have recorded 613 killings both at GHF points and near humanitarian convoys. Now this is a figure as of 27 June.”
14. Wide shot: Journalists in the Press room.
15. SOUNDBITE (English) – Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR): “Colleagues have pointed out the challenges of verifying information because we don't have eyes and ears on the ground. International press is not being allowed and neither are we. We are doing what we can to try to verify these figures, but there's a time lag and we will perhaps never be able to grasp the full scale of what's happening here because of the lack of access.”
16. Wide shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL , UNFPA , IOM , UNHCR
As the UN Secretary-General touched down in Beirut on Friday in solidarity with the people of Lebanon, UN agencies highlighted the dangers for civilians and particularly pregnant women and migrant workers, amid ongoing airstrikes and rocket fire between Hezbollah fighters and Israel.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
Russia’s deportations of Ukrainian children amount to crimes against humanity: independent UN rights probe
Scores of Ukrainian children are still missing after being deported far and wide across Russia and occupied territories while their families continue to search for them, human rights investigators said on Thursday.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | OCHA
The UN’s emergency relief chief on Wednesday condemned the “$1 billion-a-day” cost of the war roiling the Middle East, at a time of severe cuts to the global body’s humanitarian work in emergencies and “soaring” needs.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , WHO , UNHCR , UNICEF , WFP
Middle East war: UN warns of ‘toxic rain’ danger from oil depot strikes as mass displacement, aid supply shocks spread
Toxic “black rain” linked to strikes on oil depots, mass displacement and continuing disruption to humanitarian supply chains are upending lives across the Middle East and beyond after 10 days of war in the region, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on Friday made the following remarks on Israel’s military ground incursions and displacement orders in Lebanon.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , IOM , WHO
The escalating war in the Middle East has heightened growing concerns about further civilian suffering and displacement in the region and far beyond, UN agencies said on Friday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights chief Volker Türk made the following remarks at a press stake out on the current situation in the Middle East.
“The crisis sparked in the Middle East one week ago following US and Israeli attacks on Iran, and Iran’s counterattacks, has been spreading like wildfire. It is causing significant damage in Iran, Israel and at least a dozen other countries, mostly in the Gulf, with risks of major economic and environmental ramifications across the world,” he said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on Tuesday made the following remarks on the current situation in the Middle-East.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR , WFP
Schoolgirls killed, thousands displaced, aid routes compromised: UN humanitarians deplore effects of new Middle East war
On the fourth day of Israeli and United States airstrikes against Iran and amid growing violence and instability in the Middle East, the UN urgently called for protection of civilians and warned of growing displacement and humanitarian needs.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM
Well over 1.3 million people have fled Sudan’s ongoing war for South Sudan, the UN migration agency, IOM, reported on Friday, amid rising violence and a massive humanitarian emergency linked to the country’s political crisis.
2
1
2
Statements , Conferences , Edited News | HRC , OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday presented to the 61st Human Rights Council his global update on the human rights situation.
2
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday presented to the UN Human Rights Council a new report on the human rights situation in occupied Palestinian territory.