US-backed Gaza aid model ‘distraction from atrocities’, UNRWA chief says

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Philippe Lazzarini’s remarks come a day after a deadly incident at an aid distribution centre in Rafah.
The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has condemned the new United States-backed aid model in Gaza, saying it is a “distraction from atrocities” taking place there, a day after chaotic scenes at an aid distribution centre in the coastal enclave.

On Tuesday, thousands of Palestinians clambered over fences to reach the humanitarian supplies at a distribution site run by the previously unknown, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), in Rafah, southern Gaza.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported at least one person was killed and dozens of others were wounded after forces opened fire.

Gaza health officials told Al Jazeera at least three people were killed, without providing further details.

Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory, told reporters in Geneva on Wednesday that 47 Palestinians were wounded, mainly by Israeli gunfire, during the incident.

The Israeli military said its forces had fired warning shots nearby.

As a trickle of aid has resumed, Israeli forces – now in control of wide areas of Gaza – have kept up their offensive, killing 3,901 Palestinians since a short ceasefire collapsed in mid-March, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

At least eight people were killed and others were wounded early on Wednesday after Israeli forces targeted the home of journalist Osama al-Arbid, who reportedly survived the strike, in the as-Saftawi area in the north of the territory.

Medical sources told Al Jazeera that at least 15 people have been killed by Israeli attacks since the early hours of Wednesday morning across Gaza.

The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Monday that at least 3,822 people had been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,977, mostly civilians.

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