GHF says UN figures on Palestinian aid seeker death toll 'false and misleading'

The scandal-plagued Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US and Israeli-backed initiative to distribute aid in Gaza, has said that UN figures on the number of aid seekers killed at distribution points are "false and misleading".

The UN rights office (OHCHR) said on Friday it had recorded at least 798 killings of Palestinian aid seekers near US-run aid points and convoys run by other relief groups in Gaza over the last six weeks. 

Of that figure, 615 were killed near GHF sites and 183 were thought to be on aid convoy routes, OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told reporters at a press briefing.

However, GHF told Reuters that "the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys". 

The OHCHR said its figures are based on a range of sources such as information from hospitals in the Gaza Strip, cemeteries, families, Palestinian health authorities, NGOs and its partners on the ground.

Shamdasani said that most of the injuries to Palestinians in the vicinity of aid distribution hubs recorded by OHCHR since May 27 were gunshot wounds.

"We've raised concerns about atrocity crimes having been committed and the risk of further atrocity crimes being committed where people are lining up for essential supplies such as food," she said. 

CNN reported on Tuesday that the US government ignored "critical concerns" raised by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) around the initiative's ability to deliver aid safely and effectively in Gaza.

A source familiar with GHF's application told CNN on the condition of anonymity that the paperwork was "abysmal" and "sorely lacking real content”.

UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to work with GHF, saying it serves Israeli military goals and violates basic humanitarian principles. 

Israeli troops have admitted to deliberately shooting and killing unarmed Palestinians waiting for aid in the Gaza Strip, following direct orders from their superiors.

On July 1, more than 170 NGOs called for immediate action to end the “deadly” US and Israeli-backed aid scheme and urged a return to UN-led aid coordination mechanisms. 

Reporting by Reuters