Gaza: UN records 613 killings near humanitarian convoys, aid distribution points

The UN human rights office said on Friday, 4 July, that it has recorded 613 killings in Gaza near humanitarian convoys and at aid distribution points run by an Israeli-backed American organisation since it first began operations in late May.

Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the rights office was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings. But she said “it is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points” operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

"The Israeli military must stop shooting at people trying to get food. Israel must also allow the entry of food and other humanitarian assistance needed to sustain the lives of Palestinians in #Gaza in accordance with international law, humanitarian principles."
- @UNHumanRights pic.twitter.com/t0SAgdBVNd

— United Nations Geneva (@UNGeneva) June 24, 2025

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She said it was not immediately clear how many of those killings had taken place at GHF sites and how many occurred near convoys.

Speaking to reporters at a regular briefing, Shamdasani said the figures covered the period from 27 May through 27 June, and “there have been further incidents” since then.

She said she was basing the information on an internal situation report at the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Shamdasani said the figures, compiled through its standard vetting processes, were not likely to tell a complete picture, and “we will perhaps never be able to grasp the full scale of what's happening here because of the lack of access” for UN teams to the areas.

"One people enriched, one people erased."

The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, @FranceskAlbs, presented her report "From economy of occupation to economy of genocide" to the @UN Human Rights Council.#HRC59 pic.twitter.com/vtmfmaLK9n

— UN Human Rights Council 📌 #HRC59 (@UN_HRC) July 3, 2025

Earlier, on 1 July, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory since 1967, published a report on the corporate culpability in the Gaza genocide — titled ‘From economy of occupation to economy of genocide’.

In particular, the report 'investigates the corporate machinery sustaining Israel’s settler-colonial project of displacement and replacement of the Palestinians in the occupied territory'.

Albanese has called on global corporations to stop doing business with Israel in what she calls an ‘economy of genocide’.

The response from Israel’s ally the United States of America was reportedly for the US to send a private letter via its special representative to UN chief Antonio Guterres, demanding Albanese’s termination. Purportedly, this was because Albanese was sending ‘threatening letters to dozens of entities around the world, including corporations and nonprofit organizations’.

In these letters, apparently, Albanese pointed out these entities doing business with Israel could be held accountable for contributing to “gross human rights violations”, “apartheid” and “genocide” in the eyes of international law. This is because, according to what she states in her report, companies are obliged to ensure their supply chains and business dealings steer clear of human rights violations — even if they are operating in a nation that does not recognise such obligations.

Meanwhile, Gazans are fast running out of fuel — and chances to survive.

#Gaza: no fuel allowed into the enclave for more than 4️⃣ months now.

Without fuel, waste is piling up, clean water running out, clinics shutting down, electricity and telecoms patchy.

All is deepening the immense suffering of 2 million people who continue to endure… https://t.co/vUqbuimrfJ

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) July 4, 2025

With AP/PTI inputs

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