The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, supported by US and Israel, temporarily closed its food distribution centers today (Wednesday, June 4) to improve operations and assess performance.

Meanwhile, the foundation announced that it has so far distributed over seven million meals to Gaza residents.

The closures come amid widespread hunger and insecurity affecting more than two million Palestinians living in Gaza.

Sharren Haskel, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, said regarding food distribution in Gaza: “The Gaza Humanitarian Fund, which began operation this week, has already successfully distributed 7 million meals distributed via tens of thousands of aid packages. This direct aid to the population in Gaza is already changing the situation on the ground, providing food directly to those civilians in need.”

Simultaneously, the White House announced that it is reviewing reports of Israeli forces shooting at Palestinians near aid distribution centers.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated: “The administration is aware of those reports and we are currently looking into the veracity of them because unfortunately, unlike some in the media, we don't take the word of Hamas with total truth. We like to look into it when they speak.”

Meanwhile, the permanent representative of Palestine to the United Nations criticized current restrictions and emphasized the necessity of humanitarian aid entry into Gaza, calling the performance and mechanisms of the United Nations, especially the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), vital.

Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s permanent representative to the UN, said: "We need to find a way for the Security Council to adopt a position regarding humanitarian help to our people in the Gaza Strip through the mechanisms of the United Nations and the international humanitarians who are present in the Gaza Strip."

Israeli shootings at Palestinians have continued consecutively for the past three days. These deadly incidents around food distribution centers have raised concerns about slowing down the aid delivery process.