As civilians lining up for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip continue to be killed by Israeli forces, speakers at the United Nations Security Council meeting on Wednesday urged Israel to lift restrictions on aid operations in Gaza, called for a return to UN-led delivery mechanisms, and stressed the urgent need for a ceasefire and the protection of civilians. Among them was UN relief chief Tom Fletcher, who told members that "we are beyond vocabulary to describe conditions in Gaza."
He noted that food is running out, those seeking it risk being shot, and people are dying trying to feed their families.
“Starvation rates among children hit their highest levels in June, with over 5,800 girls and boys diagnosed as acutely malnourished. Last week, amid this hunger crisis, children and women were killed in a strike while waiting for the food supplements to keep them alive,” said Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
“The health system is shattered. Only 17 of 36 hospitals and 63 of 170 primary healthcare centers are functioning, all only partially, even as mass casualties arrive daily. In some hospitals, five babies share one incubator. Seventy percent of essential medicines are out of stock.”
Additionally, half of all medical equipment has been damaged, pregnant women give birth without medical care, and women and girls manage menstruation without the most basic sanitary supplies.
“Water, sanitation systems are broken. Roughly four of every five of these facilities, including water points, are now located within militarized zones or areas under displacement orders – so, even if they are functional, they are out of reach for those who depend on them,” he added.
Since the latest escalation of hostilities on March 18, the number of displaced people has risen to over 737,000 — approximately 35 percent of Gaza’s population. Over the past 21 months, nearly everyone has been displaced, and most have been displaced multiple times.
“Gaza’s soaring humanitarian needs must be met without drawing people into a firing line,” Fletcher said.
He referenced General Assembly Resolution 46/182, adopted in 1991, which established a framework and guiding principles — humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence — for the UN’s role in coordinating humanitarian assistance during emergencies.
“That means aid must go where needs are greatest and without discrimination. It means we answer to civilians in need, not the warring parties,” Fletcher said.
“Our mandate is also to advocate for international humanitarian law – not just to report to you on what we witness, but so that you, this Council, can take action. Even when those responsible would rather silence us.”
He stressed that Israel, as the occupying power, is obligated to ensure that people have food and medical supplies.
“But that is not happening. Instead, civilians are exposed to death and injury, forcible displacement, stripped of dignity,” the UN aid chief said.
“It is for you to draw your own conclusions. But surely, we do not need to debate whether killing civilians waiting in line for life’s essentials meets the responsibility to provide for civilian needs.”
Between May 19 and July 14, only 1,633 trucks reached the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings.
“To be clear, this is a drop in the ocean of needs, compared to the average of 630 truckloads, that entered daily” during an earlier ceasefire, he said. The ceasefire proved what’s possible. It’s time to return to those levels without delay.”
Regarding recent remarks by Israel’s Defense Minister about relocating Palestinians to a "humanitarian city," he stated that the proposal to forcibly displace Palestinians to a designated area near Rafah is "not humanitarian."
He underscored the necessity of protecting civilians, providing humanitarian aid on a large scale, and ensuring the safety of humanitarian workers.
Wednesday’s Security Council meeting was called by five European members following reports of abhorrent human suffering in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), including ongoing killings at Gaza “Humanitarian” Foundation (GHF) aid distribution sites. The GHF is a non-UN entity established by Israel and the United States.
Between May 27 and July 7, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded the killings of 798 Palestinian civilians, including children, desperate for finding food at or near GHF distribution sites and UN humanitarian convoys.
“Among the survivors was Donia, a mother seeking a lifeline for her family after months of desperation and hunger,” said Catherine Russell, Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Donia’s one-year-old son, Mohammed, was killed in the attack, despite having spoken his first words just hours earlier. The critically injured mother was lying in a hospital bed, clutching her son’s tiny shoe.
“No parent should experience such a horrific tragedy,” Russell said.
“The simple truth is that we are failing Gaza’s children,” she said, noting that child malnutrition in Gaza has surged 180 percent since February, reaching nearly 6,000 cases in June alone. Most households lack access to clean water, which has fueled disease outbreaks. Waterborne illnesses now make up 44 percent of medical consultations.
Hospitals are overwhelmed and short on medicine and fuel. Emergency care is collapsing. At least 12,500 patients, including many children, need urgent medical evacuation, but few are being accepted abroad.
“History will judge this failure harshly,” she warned, adding: “And the children will judge it too.”
She implored that UNICEF and its humanitarian partners be allowed to do their jobs.
“We have proven that essentials like medicine, vaccines, water, food, and nutrition for babies can reach those in need, wherever they are, when we have appropriate access,” she said, calling for an urgent return to the functioning UN-led aid pipeline with safe and sustained humanitarian access through all available crossings.
More than 58,500 Palestinians killed and over 139,000 injured
Since March 18, 2025, Israeli forces have escalated their bombardment of the Gaza Strip from the air, land, and sea and have expanded their ground operations. According to Gaza health officials, more than 7,750 people have been killed and more than 27,500 injured since Israel broke the ceasefire.
Health officials report that Israeli forces have killed more than 58,500 Palestinians, most of whom were children, women, and elderly individuals, and injured over 139,000 others in attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 2023.
On Tuesday, the Gaza Ministry of Health published a list of over 58,000 Palestinian fatalities in Gaza as of July 15. According to the list, of the total reported deaths, 17,921 were children (31%), 9,497 women (16%), 26,655 men (46%), and 4,307 elderly individuals (7%).
However, the true number of deaths is believed to be much higher. Thousands more remain buried under the rubble, and a lack of equipment and insecurity hinder rescue efforts for the wounded and missing. Additionally, it is estimated that thousands more have died from indirect causes, such as lack of medical care, lack of shelter, dehydration, and starvation.
Since October 7, 2023, at least 483 aid workers have been killed, including 326 UN staff members, 48 Palestine Red Crescent Society staff members, 4 International Committee of the Red Cross staff members, and 105 staff members of other humanitarian aid organizations.
Israel's war in Gaza continues to be characterized by grave war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israeli military and government officials.
These crimes include collective punishment of civilians, use of starvation as a method of warfare, denial of humanitarian aid, targeting of civilians, targeting of aid workers, indiscriminate killings, carrying out of disproportionate attacks, deliberate attacks on civilian objects and undefended buildings, forced transfers, torture, and enforced disappearances.
Human rights organizations and human rights experts point out that Israel's actions in Gaza, including the blockade and obstruction of humanitarian aid, are not only flagrant war crimes but also part of a genocide against Gaza's population.
According to their findings, the Israeli government's actions are apparently aimed at deliberately inflicting living conditions calculated to bring about the physical destruction of a group or part of a group, as defined in the Genocide Convention.
Despite being accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide — some of the worst crimes known to humanity — the Israeli government continues to receive financial, military, economic, and political support from the United States and a few other allies.
The US government has targeted Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in OPT, with sanctions for providing the International Criminal Court (ICC) with evidence on the responsibility of Israeli and US officials for some of the worst crimes perpetrated in Gaza.
Further information
Full text: UN Relief Chief warns Security Council: Erosion of rules of war in Gaza demands urgent response, briefing to the Security Council on the Middle East by Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, statement, delivered July 16, 2025
https://www.unocha.org/news/un-relief-chief-warns-security-council-erosion-rules-war-gaza-demands-urgent-response