UN News Today 15 July 2025 |

Gaza: Nearly 900 confirmed dead trying to fetch food in recent weeks

Nearly 900 people have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks trying to fetch food; most deaths are linked to the controversial private aid hubs backed by the US and Israel, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday.

The UN office reported that a total of 674 people were killed near distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

The remaining 201 victims were killed while seeking food “on the routes of aid convoys or near aid convoys” run by the UN and its partners.

At one private aid site on Sunday in northwestern Rafah, the Israeli military reportedly shelled and fired towards Palestinians seeking food, killing two and injuring at least nine others.

As the near-total aid blockade by Israel goes on, UN aid agencies warn that child malnutrition is increasing by the day. It did not exist in Gaza before the war, said Juliette Touma, Director of Communications for the UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA:

“We’ve been banned from bringing in any humanitarian assistance into Gaza for more than four months now. We have 6,000 trucks waiting in places like Egypt, like Jordan; it’s from Jordan to the Gaza Strip it’s a three-hour drive, right? …Medicine and food are going to soon expire if we’re not able to get those supplies to people in Gaza who need it most among them one million children.”

No let-up in occupied West Bank killings linked to settlers, Israeli military

Meanwhile in the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem, Palestinians continue to be killed in violence allegedly linked to Israeli settlers and security forces, UN agencies said.

Victims this year have included two-year-old Laila Khatib who was shot in the head by Israeli security forces on 25 January inside her home in Jenin, according to the UN human rights office, OHCHR.

Here’s spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan now:

“In June, the UN recorded the highest monthly injury toll of Palestinians in over two decades. In all, 96 Palestinians were injured by Israeli settlers. During the first half of 2025, there have been 757 settler attacks that resulted in Palestinian casualties or property damage – a 13 per cent increase on the same period in 2024.”

Mr. Al-Kheetan maintained that the Israeli security forces “often used unnecessary or disproportionate force” and have forcibly displaced 30,000 Palestinians since launching operation “Iron Wall” in the north of the occupied West Bank earlier this year.

Since 7 October 2023, 53 Israelis have been killed in reported attacks by Palestinians or in armed clashes, 35 in the West Bank and 18 in Israel.

Ukraine: Civilians under fire in record numbers as attacks surge

To Ukraine, where Russian missile and drone strikes have killed and injured hundreds of civilians this month alone, in a devastating pattern of attacks far from the frontlines.

According to the UN human rights office, at least 139 civilians have been killed and 791 injured so far in July.

The devastating physical and psychological impact of repeated attacks cannot be understated, said spokesperson Liz Throssell on Tuesday:

“People are having to spend hours sheltering, including in basements, corridors and available refuges such metro stations. Children, older people and people with disabilities are especially vulnerable to the prolonged stress and disruption of sleep, and, in some cases, they are unable to get to shelter.”

On the night of 12 July, Russian forces reportedly launched nearly 600 Shahed-type unmanned attack and decoy drones at targets in Ukraine, along with 26 missiles, killing two civilians and injuring 41.

The UN human rights office noted damage across multiple regions including Chernivtsi and Lviv, which are far from active combat zones.

An immediate ceasefire is needed now to end this unbearable suffering, insisted High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.

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