UN chief condemns Israeli fire on civilians seeking aid in Gaza
By Nadine Osman
London (The Muslim News): UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday condemned Israel’s killing of Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
“The Secretary-General condemns the loss of lives and injuries of civilians in Gaza… once again being shot at while seeking food—it is unacceptable,” said UN spokesperson Farhan Haq at a news conference in New York. He added that Guterres “continues to call for an immediate and independent investigation into all such reports and for accountability to be established.”
Reaffirming Israel’s legal obligations as the occupying power, Haq stated that Tel Aviv must “agree to and facilitate humanitarian relief for all civilians who need it.”
The remarks came amid intensifying concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where deadly Israeli strikes have reportedly targeted crowds waiting for food assistance.
On Tuesday, at least 70 Palestinians were killed and hundreds injured along the Salah al-Din Road in eastern Khan Younis, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Witnesses and local civil defence sources said the area had been designated for food distribution.
Gaza Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal said Israeli drones initially fired on the crowd, followed by tank shelling that struck those gathered. More than 200 people were injured in the incident, many of them critically, local hospitals reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday warned that Gaza’s health system is “at a breaking point,” as ongoing military operations, mass displacement, and restricted humanitarian access push medical services toward collapse.
“As global attention shifts to escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, Gaza continues to be decimated—largely out of sight, but not out of danger,” said Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, during a UN briefing in Geneva.
Only 17 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially functional, with just four—among them Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis—still operating as referral centres.
“The health system simply can’t afford the loss of Nasser Hospital,” Peeperkorn said. Located within an Israeli-declared evacuation zone, the hospital is currently the only provider of intensive care and neurosurgical services in the southern city and operates a dialysis unit serving over 200 patients.
In Gaza City, Al-Shifa Hospital is functioning at a “200% bed occupancy rate,” while Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis is “completely inaccessible due to ongoing military operations in the vicinity and is unable to admit new cases,” rendering it non-operational, Peeperkorn added.
The Gaza Health Ministry reports that more than 55,000 people have been killed in the territory since October 2023. Humanitarian agencies continue to warn of widespread famine and medical collapse amid severe shortages of food, medicine, and fuel, and repeated obstacles to aid delivery.
Further incidents were reported across Gaza on Tuesday, including an attack near the Al-Tahlia Roundabout in Khan Younis that killed at least 51 people and injured more than 200 others, and a strike on displacement tents in the Al-Mawasi area that killed four. Additional casualties were recorded in strikes on shelters and residential buildings throughout the day.
[Photo: Relatives of Palestinians who were killed by Israeli bombing on people mourn as the bodies are taken from al-Shifa Hospital for funeral process in Gaza, Gaza City on June 18, 2025. Photojournalist:Abdalhkem Abu Riash/AA]
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