UN video shows shots fired at Palestinians waiting for aid
The UN humanitarian office says Israeli forces opened fire as a crowd waited for aid convoy to approach
The UN has released a video showing shots being fired towards people waiting for food in Gaza, many of them children, as an aid convoy approaches.
The shots are fired into the ground in front of a crowd of people, who begin rushing towards the UN vehicles as they draw near.
“Israeli forces were firing warning shots just inches away from a crowd waiting for a UN convoy with food supplies,” the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said.
It said the shooting took place on Wednesday near the Karam Abu Salem border crossing from Israel into southern Gaza.
In the video, a male voice says: “No, no, don't do this, don't do this” as people swarm towards the vehicles, despite the shots fired seconds earlier. “Check your door's locked, check your door's locked, safety lock as well,” another male voice says.
Ocha spokeswoman Olga Cherevko said the UN team faced “several constraints” when they went to pick up food supplies from the border crossing.
“One of the constraints that we faced was waiting about two-and-a-half hours at an Israeli forces checkpoint, which by the time we were allowed to pass, we were met on the road by tens of thousands of hungry and desperate people who directly offloaded everything from the backs of our lorries.”
Israel also did not give the UN enough time to secure the aid on the lorries, Ms Cherevko said, making it easier for the packages to fall off.
The UN video was released amid growing international anger over Israel's restrictions on the delivery of aid as it presses a military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, despite extreme levels of hunger in the Palestinian enclave and the rising number of deaths among people trying to receive food.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday that at least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food.
It said 859 deaths occurred near aid sites run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), and 514 along the routes of food convoys. “Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military,” it added.
Twelve more people died while trying to collect aid on Saturday morning, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, as well as 10 others killed in Israeli attacks across the enclave.
Gaza health authorities have also been reporting more people dying from hunger-related causes. The total stands at 147, among them 88 children, most of whom died in the past few weeks.
Israel said it is taking steps to increase aid access and last Sunday announced humanitarian pauses in its war against Hamas to allow the delivery of relief supplies. However, aid agencies say they are not receiving enough permissions from the Israeli military for the entry of aid.
US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visited Gaza on Friday in what the White House said was a preparation to draw up a new plan to deliver aid to the territory.
Mr Trump has repeatedly expressed concern over the levels of starvation in Gaza.
“We want to help people. We want to help them live. We want to get people fed. It is something that should have happened long time ago,” he told the Axios news website on Friday.
Ms Cherevko said access to aid had to be expanded so that more food was entering on a regular basis and “communities have the confidence that supplies are coming and that they will be receiving them and that they will be distributed properly”.
Israel has denied pursuing a policy of starvation.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday that the situation in Gaza was “tough” but there were lies about starvation there.
Israel's army chief also denied the accusation in remarks to officers inside Gaza on Friday.
Lt Gen Eyal Zamir said the “current campaign of false accusations of intentional starvation is a deliberate, timed, and deceitful attempt” to accuse Israeli forces of war crimes, according to a military statement.
“The ones responsible for the killing and suffering of the residents in the Gaza strip is Hamas.”
He said the military's offensive would continue “without rest” unless a deal was reached to free the remaining hostages held in Gaza by Hamas and other militant groups.
At least 60,300 people have been killed and more than 147,000 injured in Gaza since the war began on October 7, 2023, according to figures compiled by the enclave's health ministry.
The conflict was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 others taken hostage. According to the Israeli military, 49 hostages remain in Gaza, of whom 27 are dead.