Israel Turning Gaza into a ‘Graveyard for Children’: United Nations

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is becoming increasingly severe due to Israel’s military operations. Top United Nations officials have warned that Gaza has now become a graveyard for children and a valley of starvation. This information was reported in an Al Jazeera article on Friday (July 11).

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that Israel has created a cruel and deliberate trap of massacre in Gaza.

He said, “The people of Gaza have now reached a point where they have only two choices: to die from hunger or to die from gunfire.” According to UN data, since May, 819 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza while trying to collect food aid. Among them, at least 634 died near distribution centers run by the U.S.- and Israel-backed NGO GHF.

On Friday, 15 Palestinians standing in a food line in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, were shot dead, including 9 children and 4 women. On the same day, at least 11 more were killed while collecting aid in Rafah city.

Robina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said, “From May until the first week of July, at least 798 people in Gaza have died while collecting food.” American contractors linked to GHF and Israeli soldiers have admitted that they sometimes shot at unarmed people gathered in hope of food. (Sources: Israeli daily Haaretz and Associated Press)

Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), has described the situation in Gaza as the worst humanitarian crisis he has witnessed in his life. He said that sufficient food supplies exist for the people of Gaza, but these aid trucks are not being allowed to enter. As a result, people are forced to depend on the controversial GHF centers.

Meanwhile, Israel has announced plans to create a so-called “humanitarian city” in Gaza. Analysts are comparing this to another “Nakba” (the 1948 catastrophe). Satellite imagery shows large parts of Rafah city have been destroyed, and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has stated that up to 2.1 million people from Gaza could be relocated there in the future.

Political analyst Daniel Levy said, “GHF’s aid centers have been established in such a way that Palestinians are forced to move towards Rafah. We are witnessing what looks like a path to another Nakba.” In the Israeli attack on Friday, eight people were killed in a school in Jabalia that was being used as a shelter for displaced people. A child was also killed in an attack on a house in the Tufah area.

The Ministry of Health reported that hospitals are virtually non-functional due to electricity and fuel shortages. Many emergency services have been suspended, and ambulance services have stopped. As a result, the injured are being transported in carts or animal-drawn vehicles. UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said, “Due to the blockade of humanitarian aid, children and civilians in Gaza are dying daily from hunger and gunfire. This procession of deaths cannot be stopped without an immediate ceasefire.”