OCHA: UN Relief Chief condemns attacks on civilians in Gaza

13 June 2025

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said in a statement yesterday that attacks on civilians in Gaza – including the killing and injury of hungry people seeking food and those delivering aid – are unacceptable.

Fletcher said UN convoys carrying humanitarian aid have been intercepted by armed Palestinian gangs, endangering staff and drivers. Meanwhile, civilians in desperate need of the limited food humanitarians are able to bring in have been shot by Israeli forces, crushed by trucks, or stabbed while trying to retrieve food.

He noted that other incidents have concentrated around militarized distribution centres, where starving people report Israeli forces opening fire on them. On Wednesday, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation stated that Palestinians involved in their distribution were killed, injured, and captured by Hamas.

“Without immediate and massively scaled-up access to the basic means of survival, we risk a descent into famine, further chaos, and the loss of more lives,” Fletcher said. “Hunger must never be met with bullets. Humanitarians must be allowed to do their work.”

OCHA underscores that life-saving aid must reach people in need in line with humanitarian principles.*

Meanwhile, the blockade on fuel – imposed by Israeli authorities for more than 100 days – continues. Sufficient fuel supplies are paramount for keeping essential, life-saving services running in Gaza. These include intensive care units and critical health, water and sanitation services.

OCHA reports that Israeli authorities continue to deny many humanitarian movements aimed at providing support to the population within the Strip. Yesterday, they rejected eight out of 18 attempts by the UN to coordinate such movements, including efforts to retrieve wheat flour and fuel supplies. Four other missions were unable to be accomplished, either because of impediments or because organizers had to cancel them, which typically happens for security or logistical reasons. The remaining six missions – which included the movement of staff – were facilitated and accomplished.

Meanwhile, the telecommunications outage has massively disrupted humanitarian operations. Gaza remains without Internet or data connectivity after the last fibre cable route serving central and southern areas of the Strip was cut yesterday, following intense hostilities.

Restoring connectivity is urgent. Just hours ago, the Israeli military posted a warning on social media where areas marked in red on a map – apparently most of the Gaza Strip’s territory – are considered dangerous combat zones, calling on people to stay away from them. However, most people in Gaza have no way to access this announcement.

Humanitarian partners working on telecommunications continue their efforts to coordinate urgent repairs of the fibre cable routes in Gaza, including those that were previously damaged. However, they report that since April, the Israeli authorities have denied more than 20 requests by partners to carry out that work.

As the outage continues, partners are unable to communicate or coordinate response activities, and people in need remain isolated and without the information they need to access life-saving support and emergency services.

OCHA stresses that it is critical that repair of the lines is enabled immediately.