UN chief says Gaza war in ‘cruellest phase’ as US-Israel-backed aid group faces new investigation calls

The UN Secretary-General on Friday described the devastating war on Gaza as entering its "cruellest phase", after Israel announced a 'partial easing' of its prolonged blockade and approved a controversial US-led aid initiative that has triggered fresh calls for investigation.

As aid was set to resume entering the Strip following Israel’s claim it would allow a limited number of humanitarian trucks through, the UN’s Antonio Guterres warned that of the nearly 400 trucks approved to enter the Palestinian territory in recent days, only 115 were successfully collected.

This comes as Israel continues its brutal offensive on the enclave, which has killed nearly 54,000 Palestinians since 7 October 2023, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Gaza's officials have updated the death toll as having reached well over 61,700, with the thousands of people missing under the rubble presumed killed.

The territory's Civil Defence agency reported that Israeli strikes killed at least six people across the territory on Saturday alone.

Guterres stated, "Palestinians in Gaza are enduring what may be the cruellest phase of this cruel conflict," emphasising that Israel "must agree to allow and facilitate" humanitarian deliveries.

"In any case, all the aid authorised until now amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required," he added in a statement.

"Meanwhile, the Israeli military offensive is intensifying with atrocious levels of death and destruction," he said.

The Israeli blockade has triggered severe shortages of food and medicine, drawing global condemnation from humanitarian organisations and rights groups.

The World Food Programme has urged Israel "to get far greater volumes of food assistance into Gaza faster".

These constraints have led to instances of looting, following Thursday night’s attack and vandalism of 30 aid trucks in southern and central Gaza, according to Gaza’s authorities.

Nahid Shuheiber, head of the transport association in the territory, reported that in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah, armed gangs opened fire on the trucks and looted them.

Gaza’s Government Media Office later reported that a series of Israeli strikes killed six people when local security teams arrived to secure the convoy.

Al Jazeera English also reported that at least five Palestinians were killed and 50 others injured in an Israeli strike targeting a crowd gathered around a truck carrying flour in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza - an area previously designated by Israel as a "humanitarian zone".

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), said in a post on X on Friday that "no one should be surprised, let alone shocked, at scenes of precious aid looted, stolen or 'lost'".

He added that "the people of Gaza have been starved" for over 11 weeks.

The World Food Programme also warned that "hunger, desperation, and anxiety over whether more food aid is coming, is contributing to rising insecurity".

These developments coincide with mounting concerns over the launch of a US-Israel-backed aid distribution initiative, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has been promoted as a solution to the Palestinian territory’s deepening humanitarian crisis.

However, new calls for an investigation into the group highlight broader fears regarding the politicisation of aid.

The Switzerland-based NGO TRIAL International has called on authorities to investigate GHF’s activities, following the UN’s rejection of the group’s aid model.

The UN has stated that the GHF’s aid plan is neither impartial nor neutral, warning that it causes further displacement and places thousands of people at risk.

It has confirmed it will not participate in the initiative.

TRIAL International stressed that aid distribution should be left to UN bodies and humanitarian organisations, noting that GHF is a private security company.

"The dire humanitarian situation in Gaza requires an immediate response," said Philip Grant, TRIAL International’s Executive Director.

"However, the planned use of private security companies leads to a risky militarisation of aid," he added.

He further argued that such a strategy "is not justified in a context where the United Nations and humanitarian NGOs have the impartiality, resources and expertise necessary to distribute this aid without delay to the civilian population".

TRIAL International stated that it had submitted legal filings urging Swiss authorities to verify whether GHF is operating in accordance with its own statutes and Swiss law.

The organisation specifically questioned whether GHF had declared its intention to use private security firms for aid distribution, and whether that move had been approved by Swiss authorities.

In a statement, GHF acknowledged that using private security companies marked a shift from previous aid delivery frameworks.

However, it claimed the measure was aimed at preventing aid from being diverted to Hamas or criminal groups- echoing frequent Israeli talking points.

Major UN aid agencies, however, have rejected this rationale, stating there is no credible evidence of large-scale aid diversion in Gaza.

They have refused to engage with the new aid mechanism, warning it risks forcibly displacing Palestinians and significantly increasing the dangers they already face.

Israel resumed its military operations in Gaza on 18 March, ending a two-month ceasefire.

Gaza’s health ministry reported on Saturday that at least 3,747 Palestinians - mostly civilians - have been killed in the territory since then.