The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, issued a stark warning on Friday, stating that hungry people in Gaza seeking food must not face a “death sentence,” as a new US- and Israeli-backed distribution system faces mounting controversy.
“People are being killed simply trying to feed themselves and their families. The food search must never be a death sentence,” Guterres told reporters.
He criticised any system that “channels desperate civilians into militarised zones,” calling it “inherently unsafe” and a cause of fatalities.
While not explicitly naming the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), whose operations have been linked to near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on civilians desperate for food, Guterres’s comments addressed the situation.
The health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory reports over 500 deaths near aid centres since late May among those seeking scarce supplies, though the GHF denies that fatal shootings occurred near its aid points.
The crisis follows Israel’s more than two-month blockade of food and other vital supplies into Gaza, which began in March and led to warnings of widespread famine across the occupied Palestinian territory.
The United Nations maintains that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is illegal under international law. The densely populated Gaza Strip has been largely devastated by Israeli bombing since the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas.
Israel began allowing a trickle of food supplies into Gaza at the end of May, utilising the GHF, which is supported by armed US contractors and operates with Israeli troops on its perimeter.
Guterres firmly rejected this approach, stating, “The problem of the distribution of humanitarian aid must be solved. There is no need to reinvent the wheel with dangerous schemes.”
He highlighted that the UN and major aid groups have refused to collaborate with the GHF, citing concerns that it serves Israeli military objectives and violates fundamental humanitarian principles by aligning with one side of the conflict.
The UN chief emphasised that the United Nations possesses a viable solution: “We have the solution—a detailed plan grounded in the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence. We have the supplies. We have the experience. Our plan is guided by what people need.”
He noted that only a “handful” of medical supplies had entered Gaza this week, the first shipment in months, and urged for a significant increase: “A trickle of aid is not enough. What’s needed now is a surge—the trickle must become an ocean.”
Guterres concluded by urging the world not to let the suffering of Palestinians be “pushed into the shadows” as global attention focuses on the conflict between Israel and Iran, calling for “political courage for a ceasefire.”
