GENEVA, July 11, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Nearly 800 people have died trying to 
access aid in Gaza since late May, with most killed near the US- and Israel-
backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's sites, the UN said Friday.

An officially private effort, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began 
operations on May 26 after Israel halted supplies into the Gaza Strip for 
more than two months, sparking warnings of imminent famine.

Since those operations began and through July 7, United Nations rights office 
spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the agency had recorded "615 killings in 
the vicinity of the GHF sites".

Another 183 people had been killed "presumably on the routes of aid convoys" 
carried out by UN and other aid organisations, she told reporters in Geneva.

"This is nearly 800 people who have been killed while trying to access aid," 
she said, adding that "most of the injuries are gunshot injuries".

GHF operations, which effectively sidelined a vast UN aid delivery network in 
Gaza, have been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli 
forces firing on people waiting to collect rations.

The GHF, which said Thursday it had distributed more than 69 million meals to 
date, has denied that fatal shootings have occurred in the immediate vicinity 
of its aid points.

The Israeli army has accused Hamas of being responsible for firing at 
civilians in the vicinity of aid centres.

The army said Friday it had issued instructions to Israel's forces in the 
field "following lessons learned" after reports of deadly incidents at 
distribution facilities.

It explained that it "allows the American civilian organisation (GHF) to 
distribute aid to Gaza residents independently, and operates in proximity to 
the new distribution zones to enable the distribution alongside the 
continuation of IDF operational activities in the Gaza Strip".

"As part of this effort, IDF forces have recently worked to reorganise the 
area through the installation of fences, signage placement, the opening of 
additional routes, and other measures," it said.

The army stressed that "following incidents in which harm to civilians who 
arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were 
conducted," adding those incidents were "under review by the competent 
authorities in the IDF".

Shamdasani highlighted that the UN rights office had repeatedly raised 
"serious concerns about respect for international humanitarian law 
principles" in the war in Gaza, which erupted following Hamas's deadly 
October 7, 2023 attack inside Israel.

"Where people are lining up for essential supplies such as food and medicine, 
and where they are being attacked, where... they have a choice between being 
shot or being fed, this is unacceptable," she said.