The United Nations’ (UN) top human rights official, Volker Türk, has said that Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip are no longer covered by the principle of self-defence under international law.
This came as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen yesterday spoke out strongly against Israel’s expanded military operations in Gaza.
They spoke as United States (U.S.) private contractors charged with securing controversial new Israeli aid-distribution centres in Gaza yesterday reportedly lost control of the crowds and fired live ammunition to disperse throngs of civilians described as “desperate to get food to feed their families,” according to Al Jazeera.
“We are talking about an expulsion that is highly, highly questionable,” Türk said on Austrian radio, referring to the effect of the war on the civilian population.
“What we have witnessed in recent months has nothing to do with respect for the fundamental principles of humanity,” said Türk, who holds the title of UN high commissioner for human rights. “You can’t really find any more words to describe what is happening,” he said.
Von der Leyen said: “The European Commission has always supported and will continue to support Israel’s right to security and self-defence, but this escalation and disproportionate use of force against civilians cannot be justified under humanitarian and international law.”
“The expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza targeting civilian infrastructure, a school that served as a shelter for displaced Palestinian families, killing civilians, including children, is abhorrent,” she said, after a call with King Abdullah II of Jordan.
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The European Union calls on Israel “to put an immediate halt on the current escalation,” she said, and on Hamas to release the remaining hostages.
However, Al Jazeera reported yesterday that IDF forces were sent in “to try and evacuate these contractors” during the crisis.
Al Jazeera also reported that military helicopters and tanks fired into the vicinity “to try and also get the crowds to disperse”.
An AP journalist based in the area also reported sounds of Israeli tankfire and gunfire.
Meanwhile, a security source told CNN that U.S. contractors did not fire shots.
At the time of this report, it is unclear whether the incident as a whole resulted in injuries or fatalities, though Middle East Eye has reported it caused a “deadly stampede.”
In response, the controversial U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which facilitates the new distribution sites, claimed that the volume of crowds overwhelmed its team and forced it to pull back so that people could “take aid safely and dissipate.” It alleged that “Gazans experienced several hour delays in accessing the site due to blockades imposed by Hamas.”
According to Haaretz, aid distribution by the Gaza-Humanitarian Foundation has resumed on site following the incident, though a source told CNN that aid distribution would resume there tomorrow. Haaretz also reported that the Israeli army denies reports suggesting that IDF helicopters opened fire at the aid hubs, insisting that troops on scene fired warning shots.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operating its aid-distribution centres in Gaza yesterday, despite objections from the UN and other aid groups that the Foundation was assisting Israel’s efforts to use food as a weapon of war. After breaking a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, Israel had blocked foodstuffs, fuel, and other goods for almost three months, until finally allowing a small amount of aid to enter the Gaza Strip last week.
The New York Times reported over the weekend that the aid scheme has been in the works since shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks and has been assisted by ex-CIA officer Phillip R. Reilly, who has had a long career dating back to training the contras in Nicaragua in the 1980s.
The Foundation is registered in both Switzerland and the U.S.
Retired Marine Jake Wood was appointed CEO in charge of fundraising until he resigned Monday, saying: “It is clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon.”
After the clash with the crowds yesterday, the Government Media Office in Gaza put out a statement saying, “today’s events are clear evidence of the occupation’s failure to manage the humanitarian crisis it has deliberately created…Establishing ghettos for distributing limited aid is a deliberate policy aimed at sustaining starvation and dismantling society.”
The U.S. State Department did not respond to request for comment in time for publication.