Israeli troops open fire as Gaza crowd overwhelms US-backed aid hub

Euronews

7 days ago

Israeli troops opened fire near thousands of Palestinians as a logistics group picked by Israel and backed by the US lost control of its aid distribution centre on its second day of operations.
The distribution hub, opened the day before by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), was not prepared for the thousands of hungry Palestinians who broke through fences in order to reach the aid.
Palestinians in Gaza have been under a tight Israeli blockade, including an 11-week total block on critical supplies.
Some of those at the scene told AP that a hundreds of thousands had travelled several miles to reach the aid hub, passing through nearby military positions.
By afternoon, the centre was over capacity and turmoil erupted with people tearing down fences and grabbing forces.
Workers at the aid centre abandoned their posts, the foundation said. 'At one moment in the late afternoon, the volume of people at the SDS [secure distribution centre] was such that the GHF team fell back to allow a small number of Palestinians in Gaza to take aid safely and dissipate,' explained GHF in a statement.
An Israeli tank and gunfire were heard and a military helicopter fired flares, according to AP. At least three injured Palestinians were brought from the scene, one bleeding from his leg.
The Israeli military said it fired "warning shots" near the hub in order to regain control of the situation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged there had been a "loss of control momentarily" during the food distribution in a speech on Tuesday night , but said it was "brought back under control."
Most were reportedly left empty handed after visiting the overwhelmed centre, although a few managed to secure boxes containing basic items like sugar, flour, pasta and tahini.
'It was chaos,' said Ahmed Abu Taha, who said he heard gunfire and saw Israeli military aircraft overhead. 'People were panicked.'
The GHF has been under continuous controversy after its founding director, Jake Wood, resigned on Sunday citing concerns about the organisation's impartiality and effectiveness.
It would not be possible for the group to deliver aid "while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence," Wood said.
The UN and other international aid organisations have refused to work with the centre, arguing that doing so would compromise fundamental values key to reaching civilians in all conflict zones.
They have also warned that the new group would be unable to meet the demands of feeding more than 2 million people in the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated following months of warfare.
The US and Israel have backed the organisation, which they claim is necessary to prevent Hamas from stealing humanitarian aid.
US state department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said that the priority was delivering aid to Gaza, no matter who was delivering it. She also accused Hamas of blocking GHF convoys from reaching individuals.
However, scenes on Tuesday seemed to confirm the suggestion from international aid groups that the GHF would be unprepared to meet the demand in the Gaza Strip.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric called the scenes "heartbreaking" and said the sight of crowds rushing to get aid were upsetting when the UN and partners have a "detailed, principled and operationally sound plan" to get aid into the enclave.
The GHF has set up four hubs around Gaza to distribute food, both in the Rafah area. It uses armed private contractors to guard the hubs and the transportation of supplies.
Israel says it will replace the UN and other aid groups that have coordinated a massive operation distributing supplies throughout the war. The past week, however, Israel has allowed a trickle of aid to enter Gaza for the UN to distribute.
The Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating aid, COGAT, said Tuesday that 400 trucks of food supplies were waiting on the Gaza side of the main crossing from Israel but that the UN had not collected them.
A spokesperson for the UN in Geneva told reporters that Israeli authorities have been assigned "insecure routes" that pose a challenged for aid agencies. The amount of aid allowed in the last week was "vastly insufficient," he added.
National Public Radio (NPR) and three of its local stations have sued US President Donald Trump, arguing that his executive order cutting funding to the 246-station network violates their free speech and relies on an authority that he does not have.
Earlier this month, Trump instructed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies to cease funding for NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), either directly or indirectly.
The president and his supporters argue their news reporting promotes liberal bias and shouldn't be supported by taxpayers.
Retaliation is Trump's plain purpose, the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, argues.
"By basing its directives on the substance of NPR's programming, the executive order seeks to force NPR to adapt its journalistic standards and editorial choices to the preferences of the government if it is to continue to receive federal funding," Katherine Maher, NPR's CEO, said.
The lawsuit alleges that Trump is acting to contravene the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private non-profit corporation set up to distribute federal funding to NPR and PBS, which is intended to insulate the system from political interference.
Congress has appropriated $535 million (€478 million) yearly to CPB for 2025, 2026 and 2027.
In response to the lawsuit, White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said that CPB "is creating media to support a particular political party on the taxpayers' dime," so Trump was exercising his authority under the law.
"The president was elected with a mandate to ensure efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and he will continue to use his lawful authority to achieve that objective," Fields said.
Trump hasn't hidden his feelings about NPR, calling it a "liberal disinformation machine" in an April social media post.
The court fight seemed preordained, given that the heads of NPR and PBS both reacted to Trump's move earlier this month with statements that they believed it was illegal.
The absence of PBS from Tuesday's filing indicates the two systems will challenge this separately. PBS has not yet gone to court, but is expected to.
"PBS is considering every option, including taking legal action, to allow our organisation to continue to provide essential programming and services to member stations and all Americans," PBS spokesman Jeremy Gaines said.
The president's attempts to dismantle government-run news sources like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty have also sparked court fights.
In May, the European Union agreed to provide emergency funds to help keep Radio Free Europe afloat after the Trump administration stopped grants to the media outlet, accusing it of promoting a news agenda with a liberal bias.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc's foreign ministers had agreed to a €5.5 million contract to "support the vital work of Radio Free Europe."
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's programmes are aired in 27 languages in 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.
The administration has also battled with the press on several fronts. The Federal Communications Commission is investigating ABC, CBS and NBC News.
The Associated Press also went to court after the administration restricted access to certain events in response to the press agency's decision not to rename the Gulf of Mexico as Trump decreed.