Gaza: ‘Unacceptable’ choice between getting shot or getting fed
Following the deaths of several children in an Israeli strike on Palestinians while waiting in line for nutritional supplements, UN humanitarians once again on Friday condemned mass killings at aid distribution sites in the Gaza enclave.
UN rights office spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, told reporters in Geneva that her office, OHCHR, has continued to press their concerns over past and future atrocities.
“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 and medicine and where they are being attacked, where again, they have a choice between being shot or being fed. This is unacceptable and it’s continuing.”
Ms. Shamdasani said OHCHR is still looking into the incident in which at least 15 Palestinians including women and children were reportedly killed by a strike in front of a clinic in Deir al-Balah run by US-based aid group Project Hope, a partner organization of the UN Children’s Fund.
In a statement on Thursday UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said that the killing of families trying to access life-saving aid is “unconscionable”.
The Israeli military claimed that it had been targeting a Hamas member involved in the terror attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023.
Gang violence escalates in Haiti, warns UN rights office
Escalating gang violence outside Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince – where the State has largely lost control – has claimed over 1,000 lives and forced hundreds of thousands to flee since last October, according to OHCHR on Friday.
The mass killing in Pont Sondé in the Lower Artibonite region in October marked a major turning point in the cycle of violence between gangs and so-called ‘self-defence’ groups, Ravina Shamdasani highlighted.
Several other mass killings followed, causing mass displacement, including in the town of Mirebalais in Centre department which earlier this year saw all its 100,000 residents flee.
Between October 2024 and 30 June, a total of 4,864 were killed across Haiti. Of these, at least 1,018 people were killed in Artibonite and Centre areas, as well as other regions west of the capital.
Ms. Shamdasani said the expansion of gang control poses a major risk of spreading violence and increasing transnational trafficking – in both arms and people.
The Haitian authorities have deployed specialised police units, supported by the Security Council-backed Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission which have partially slowed the advance.
Ms. Shamdasani said rights abuses by self defence groups have increased along with summary executions involving Haitian security forces.
“Caught in the middle of this unending horror story are the Haitian people, who are at the mercy of horrific violence by gangs and exposed to human rights violations from the security forces as well as abuses by the so-called ‘self-defence’ groups.”
150,000 Rohingya flee to Bangladesh amid renewed Myanmar violence
To Myanmar and Bangladesh finally, where escalating conflict and targeted violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state have forced some 150,000 Rohingya refugees to flee across the border over the past 18 months – the largest exodus to Bangladesh in years.
As armed clashes intensify and conditions worsen inside civil war-wracked Myanmar, thousands continue to cross the border seeking safety in the overcrowded camps of Cox’s Bazar, where nearly a million Rohingya refugees are sheltering.
“This is the largest movement of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh since 2017,” said Babar Baloch, spokesperson for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, briefing journalists on Friday.
He said unlike the mass influx in 2017, when some 750,000 Rohingya fled deadly violence in Rakhine, this movement has unfolded gradually.
UNHCR is working closely with local authorities to respond to urgent humanitarian needs.
The agency is working closely with the Bangladeshi authorities to provide managed access to safety and asylum for civilians fleeing the fighting, The agency spokesperson said.
Matt Wells, UN News.
Music composed and produced by Joachim Harris. All rights reserved.
