Geneva: The deadly Israeli attacks on civilians near aid distribution sites in the Gaza Strip constitute a war crime, said the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk. In a statement read by his spokesperson at a press conference in Geneva today, Turk stated that the lethal assaults on distraught civilians attempting to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza are unconscionable. He stressed that attacks directed against civilians represent a grave breach of international law and amount to a war crime.

According to Qatar News Agency, for a third day running, people were killed around an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The Civil Defense in Gaza reported that 27 Palestinians were killed today by Israeli army fire near a food aid distribution center in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. The United Nations declined to cooperate with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, citing its obscure funding sources and stating that it fails to respect basic humanitarian principles.

The Palestinians have been presented with the grimmest of choices: die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available through Israel’s militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism, Turk added. He emphasized that each of these attacks near aid centers must be subject to a prompt and impartial investigation, stressing that those responsible must be held to account.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday also called for an independent investigation into the shootings that resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries on Sunday near a humanitarian aid site supported by the United States and Israel in southern Gaza.