“It is killing people”: UN chief criticises US-backed Gaza aid plan

United Nations SecretaryGeneral Antoacutenio Guterres on Friday slammed the USbacked aid initiative in Gaza describing it as ldquoinherently unsaferdquo and bluntly stating ldquoIt is killing peoplerdquoUN SecretaryGeneral had renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza noting that the humanitarian crisis has reached horrific proportionsGuterres in his speech had said People are being killed for simply trying to feed themselves and their families The search for food must never be a death sentenceOn the amount of aid reaching Gaza he mentioned A trickle of aid is not enough what is needed now is a surge The trickle must become an ocean We need concrete action so that aid can reach allOffering remarks on reports alleging IDF soldiers shooting at people Guterres said We dont need a report of that nature to acknowledge that there have been messy violations of international law and indeed when there is a violation of international law there must be accountabilityGuterres in his speech had said To those in power say enable our operations as international humanitarian law demands To those with influence I say use it To all member states I say uphold the UN Charter you recommitted to it just yesterday for the 80th anniversary Let us bring in lifesaving supplies let us reach people where they are and let us recognise that the solution to this problem is ultimately political The only sustainable path to reestablishing hope is by paving the way to the twostate solution Diplomacy and human dignity for all must prevailMeanwhile the Foreign Ministry of Israel issued a statement on Saturday in response to the remarks made by the UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres on the humanitarian aid to Gaza and reiterated its stance that the Israeli Defence Forces IDF does not target civiliansIn its statement posted on X the Israeli Foreign Ministry said Blaming Israel for the UNs failures and for Hamass deeds is a deliberate tactic The GHF has so far provided more than 46 million meals directly to Palestinian civilians not to Hamas Yet the UN is doing everything it can to oppose this effort In doing so the UN is aligning itself with Hamas which is also trying to sabotage the GHFs humanitarian operationsIt further added The IDF never targets civilians and anyone claiming otherwise is blatantly lying It is Hamas that is deliberately targeting and murdering GHF Gaza Humanitarian Fund aid workers a crime the UN has never condemned and is also targeting civilians who are trying to collect aid from the GHFIn its concluding remarks the Foreign Ministry noted The UN must now decide Does it prefer to preserve its monopoly and a system that benefits Hamas thereby prolonging the war or is it interested in delivering humanitarian aid to civilians in GazaIn response to the remarks of UN SecretaryGeneral Antoacutenio GuterresBlaming Israel for the UNrsquos failures and for Hamasrsquos deeds is a deliberate tacticThe GHF has so far provided more than 46 million meals directly to Palestinian civilians not to Hamas Yet the UN is doinghellipmdash Israel Foreign Ministry IsraelMFA June 27 2025The remarks by Israel come after the UN SecretaryGeneral had renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza noting that the humanitarian crisis has reached horrific proportionsIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz delivered a joint statement on Friday where they emphasised that the Israeli Defence Forces IDF soldiers have clear instructions to avoid harm to innocentsThe statement issued by Israels Ministry of Foreign Affairs said The State of Israel absolutely rejects the contemptible blood libels that have been published in the Haaretz newspaper according to which IDF Soldiers Ordered to Shoot Deliberately at Unarmed Gazans Waiting for Humanitarian AidWith inputs from Agencies