UN: Israel commits systematic massacre, carries out forced displacement in Gaza
GAZA, June 24 (YPA) – UN officials have warned that Israeli occupation forces are carrying out a “systematic massacre” against civilians in the Gaza Strip, using hunger as a weapon and imposing forced displacement that could wipe out the Palestinian presence in the Strip.
“What is happening is not just random killing, it is systematic genocide. Hunger has become a weapon, and forced displacement is a death sentence for a people trying to survive,” said Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Palestinian territories.
“All indications suggest that the ultimate goal is to erase Palestinian life from Gaza,” Whittall added in a statement carried by UNRWA.
According to the Ministry of Health, the number of Palestinian martyrs killed in shelling and gunfire while trying to reach aid distribution centers has reached 516, 3,799 wounded, and 39 people remain missing.
In a dangerous development, since May 27, Israel has begun distributing aid through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an organization not recognized by the United Nations and described as an Israeli-American front.
The Israeli occupation forces continue to issue mass evacuation orders, especially in northern Gaza and Khan Yunis, as part of what human rights organizations see as a plan to displace Palestinians forcibly.
Previously, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi called for “intensifying displacement,” while Prime Minister Netanyahu included this step among the declared war goals.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been committing genocide in Gaza, in which more than 187,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded, and more than 11,000 are missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and a famine that has claimed the lives of many, including children, as well as widespread destruction.
Gaza has turned into an arena for a humanitarian tragedy that threatens the demise of an entire social entity under the fire of a merciless war machine.