UN: Gaza aid attacks by Israel may be war crimes

The UN human rights office has warned that blocking food and aid from reaching civilians in Gaza could amount to a war crime. It called the repeated attacks on people seeking assistance “unconscionable”.

“For a third day running, people were killed around an aid distribution site run by the 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation',” said Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for UN rights chief Volker Turk, during a briefing in Geneva.

At least 27 Palestinians were killed and many more wounded after Israeli forces opened fire near a food distribution point in Rafah, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The Israeli military claimed those shot had moved outside designated aid routes.

Tuesday’s deaths marked the third consecutive day of bloodshed at aid centres. The UN says 32 people were killed on 1 June, and three more on Monday.

Turk has demanded a “prompt, independent and impartial investigation” into the killings.

“Attacks directed against civilians constitute a grave breach of international law, and a war crime,” he said in a statement.