The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has issued a grave warning, declaring that the current U.S.-Israeli aid distribution mechanism in Gaza has become a killing ground, where more than 400 starving Palestinians have been shot dead in just one month.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called for an immediate end to the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” system, demanding a return to UN-led aid coordination, a full lifting of the blockade, and an urgent ceasefire to prevent further atrocities. “People in Gaza are not just dying from hunger, they are being killed while trying to survive,” he said.

Since May 27, aid has been distributed under a system operating outside UN oversight. The result: deadly ambushes at food lines, gunfire from Israeli forces, and targeted airstrikes near aid centres in Gaza City, Khan Younis, and central Gaza. Civilians have been slaughtered while waiting for bread, flour, or clean water.

Gaza requires at least 500 aid trucks per day. Fewer than a tenth are permitted. Border crossings have remained largely sealed since March 2, leaving critical food and medicine to rot while famine tightens its grip on more than 2.3 million people.

UNRWA warned that this policy of enforced starvation, coupled with direct attacks on aid seekers, constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law, and may amount to war crimes. As Gaza’s death toll surpasses 56,000, the agency has urged the international community to break its silence and act before nothing remains to save.