The United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories has warned that Israel is carrying out one of the most brutal genocides in modern history, accusing the state of turning humanitarian aid into a “deadly trap” to starve or forcibly displace civilians in Gaza.

In her latest statements, the Rapporteur declared that conditions in Gaza have gone far beyond the scope of a humanitarian crisis. With Israel relentlessly bombing residential areas, collapsing what remains of the health sector, and cutting off access to food and medicine, the territory has become a graveyard for the innocent, where survival itself has become resistance.

Particular concern has been raised over the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” a system co-managed by Israel and the United States. Over 400 Palestinians have been killed since May while trying to collect food at its distribution points, in what rights groups call the systematic execution of the starving. More than 170 international organisations have demanded the immediate dismantling of this framework, condemning it as a violation of the core principles of humanitarian work.

The UN Human Rights Office has echoed these concerns, stating that the weaponisation of aid, especially food, could constitute a war crime. Even UN Secretary-General António Guterres has denounced the use of humanitarian aid as a tool of death, underscoring the severity of the situation.

The UN Special Rapporteur concluded with an urgent call for an international investigation and prosecution of those responsible for orchestrating what she described as a deliberate and systematic genocide. “This is no longer just a tragedy,” she warned. “It is a test of the world’s conscience, and we are failing.”