Inside Israel's role in the killings at Gaza's food aid sites

Al Jazeera

5 days ago

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US nonprofit backed by the US and Israel, was set up earlier this year to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza. Its aid distribution got under way in May, following a prolonged halt in supply deliveries to the enclave. But according to the UN, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed trying to access food at the GHF aid hubs.
Starving and beleaguered Palestinians in Gaza have no choice but to walk several miles to collect much-needed food packages from the four heavily militarised hubs. Palestinian medics and civilians told Al Jazeera that GHF and Israeli troops have routinely opened fire on the aid seekers, killing dozens at a time.
Harrowing accounts have been corroborated by video evidence, whistleblowers and Israeli soldiers, and the killings have fuelled international outcry – including condemnations from heads of state, UN agencies and human rights groups.
Who is responsible for the killings?
Mainly Israeli troops, but mercenaries working for the GHF are also implicated, according to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, which documents atrocities against Palestinians.
Euro-Med also alleges that Israeli forces have enabled Palestinian gangs to loot aid convoys and terrorise civilians.
A retired United States special forces officer, Anthony Aguilar, who was formerly employed by the GHF, recently disclosed some of the brutal treatment Palestinians face at aid sites.
'Without question, I witnessed war crimes by the [Israeli military],' Aguilar told the BBC in an exclusive interview.
How are the Palestinians being killed?
Doctors and survivors in Gaza say that Israel often uses snipers to aim directly at Palestinian aid seekers.
Dr Fadel Naeem said he frequently treats survivors in the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City and that most of the gunshot wounds he sees are to the 'head, chest and abdomen'.
He noted that Israel also appears to fire indiscriminately at starving Palestinians, sometimes firing tear gas, explosives or artillery shells at large crowds. These attacks often cause serious burns, as well as flesh and shrapnel wounds.
'There is often severe tissue tearing … and many [of the injured] end up with amputated limbs,' said Dr Naeem.
Other Palestinians sustain fractures and broken bones, typically by being trampled in the mad rush to flee Israeli gunfire or obtain a bag of food aid.
Dr Hassan al-Shaer, who works in al-Shifa Hospital, also says many of the injuries are serious.
'Many of the [injured] victims that come to us also have life-threatening wounds, and they are taken to the operating room immediately,' he told Al Jazeera.
What excuse does Israel give for these killings?
Israel officially denies firing at Palestinians and frequently claims that its troops only fire 'warning shots' outside GHF distribution hubs to prevent overcrowding.
The Israeli army also says 'chaos' at the sites poses an 'immediate threat' to army soldiers.
Yet, according to a news report published by the Israeli daily Haaretz on June 27, Israeli troops pose the real threat.
Many soldiers who served in Gaza admitted that they were 'ordered to shoot' directly at Palestinian aid seekers by their superiors.
'Where I was stationed, between one and five people were killed every day. They're treated like a hostile force – no crowd-control measures, no tear gas – just live fire with everything imaginable: heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars,' one soldier told Haaretz.
'It's a killing field,' he added.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Katz both deny the allegations and claim that they amount to 'blood libel' against Israel, meaning they equate it to a false and anti-Semitic accusation that Jewish people murder Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals.
Does medical evidence on the ground support Israel's official narrative?
No, accounts from doctors in Gaza hospitals and clinics do not support Israel's claim.
Dr Shaer, from al-Shifa, noted that many of the injured people started coming into the hospital when the GHF began aid distribution in late May.
Injuries are often compounded with illnesses and weak immune systems, effects brought on by starvation in Gaza.
Hakeem Yahiya Mansour, a 30-year-old Palestinian emergency medic in Gaza, added 'death always happens' at GHF sites.
'Most of the calls we get are from the surroundings [of the distribution zones],' he told Al Jazeera.
What do the GHF sites look like?
Footage of the sites shows thousands of starving Palestinians crowded onto a strip of land roughly the size of a football field, according to Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF.
Aid seekers are surrounded by guard towers and are often forced to fight for food parcels that are tossed to hungry crowds at poorly arranged and chaotic distribution points.
Tanks are often stationed nearby, and aid seekers can hear the terrifying buzzing of drones above them.
According to satellite imagery obtained by Al Jazeera's verification unit, Sanad, Palestinians have little space to manoeuvre or receive aid.
Despite the dangers, Palestinians face an impossible choice: die from gunfire or starvation. Many chose to accept the risk and go for aid in the hope of obtaining food for their families and small children.
Mohanad Shaaban said he did not eat for three days, pushing him to head to the GHF site on July 30. He remembers seeing two tanks at the site – one on the right and a second on the left.
'The [Israelis] then opened fire on us,' he recalled solemnly.
'Please tell the world to end this famine,' Shaaban said.
How is the world responding?
Harrowing scenes and images of Palestinians dying of hunger and being killed at GHF aid sites have compelled some of Israel's allies to issue stern condemnations and ultimatums.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom recently issued a statement urging Israel to scale up life-saving aid.
What's more, France has taken the symbolic step of recognising a Palestinian state, which the UK also threatened to do, unless Israel ends the 'appalling situation' in Gaza and commits to the 'two-state' solution. Canada has also said it will recognise a Palestinian state in September.