Israeli forces kills over 20 people seeking food in Gaza, witnesses and health officials say
Desperation has gripped the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts have warned is at risk of famine because of Israel's blockade and nearly two-year offensive.
Yousef Abed, among the crowds en route to a distribution point, described coming under what he called indiscriminate fire, looking around and seeing at least three people bleeding on the ground.
'I couldn't stop and help them because of the bullets,' he said.
Southern Gaza's Nasser Hospital said they had received bodies from near multiple distribution sites, including eight from Teina, about three kilometers (1.8 miles) away from a distribution site in Khan Younis, which is operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private U.S. and Israeli-backed contractor that took over aid distribution more than two months ago.
The hospital also received one body from Shakoush, an area hundreds of meters (yards) north of a different GHF site in Rafah. Another nine were also killed by troops near the Morag corridor, who were awaiting trucks entering Gaza through an Israeli border crossing, it said.
Three Palestinian eyewitnesses, seeking food in Teina and Morag, told The Associated Press the shootings occurred on the route to the distribution points, which are in military zones secured by Israeli forces. They said they saw soldiers open fire on hungry crowds advancing toward the troops.
Further north in central Gaza, hospital officials described a similar episode, with Israeli troops opening fire Sunday morning toward crowds of Palestinians trying to GHF's fourth and northernmost distribution point.
'Troops were trying to prevent people from advancing. They opened fire and we fled. Some people were shot,' said Hamza Matter, one of the aid seekers.
At least five people were killed and 27 wounded at GHF's site near Netzarim corridor, Awda Hospital said.
Eyewitnesses seeking food in the strip have reported similar gunfire attacks in recent days near aid distribution sites, leaving dozens of Palestinians dead.
The United Nations reported 859 people have been killed near GHF sites from May 27 to July 31 and that hundreds more have been slain along the routes of U.N.-led food convoys.
The GHF launched in May as Israel sought an alternative to the U.N.-run system, which had safely delivered aid for much of the war but was accused by Israel of allowing Hamas, which guarded convoys early in the war, to siphon supplies.
Israel has not offered evidence of widespread theft. The U.N. has denied it.
GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Israel's military has said it only fires warning shots as well. Both claimed the death tolls have been exaggerated
Neither Israel's military nor GHF immediately responded to questions about Sunday's reported fatalities.
Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry also said six more Palestinian adults died of malnutrition-related causes in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours. This brings the death toll among Palestinian adults to 82 in the past five weeks since the ministry started counting deaths among adults in late June, it said.
Ninety-three children have also died of causes related to malnutrition since the war in Gaza started in 2023, the ministry said.
The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, and abducted another 251. They are still holding 50 captives, around 20 believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 60,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties. Israel has disputed its figures, but hasn't provided its own account of casualties.
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Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Harrowing images show skeletal Palestinian boy, two, crying out as 11 more die from malnutrition in Gaza, Hamas-run health ministry claims
Distressing new photos of two skeletal-looking Palestinian children have emerged amid the continued war of words over the plight of the people in Gaza. The war-ravaged enclave is reportedly in the grip of a major famine amid claims vital aid reaching civilians has either stalled or been seized by Hamas terrorists. The situation has sparked desperate calls for action from the United Nations (UN), as fears of a humanitarian crisis erupting continue to grow. So far, 212 people, including 98 children, have reportedly died of malnutrition according to unconfirmed figures by the Hamas-run health ministry, with 11 more deaths reported last night. The latest harrowing images to come out of the Gaza strip appear to show a severely emaciated two-year-old crying out as he is treated in hospital. Little Sham Kadih, who appears to be suffering from malnutrition, was pictured weeping as he is tended to at Nasser Hospital on Saturday. It comes amid an on-going shortage of baby formula and medicine, which has reportedly left scores of children on the brink of starvation. Another image purports to show three-year-old Palestinian boy Edhem Mohammed Abu Urmana being fed just water instead of baby formula. The youngster, who appears gaunt and thin, was forced to flee his home alongside his family amid the on-going bombing campaign by Israel. Now staying inside a tent at the Nuseirat refugee camp, Edhem is reportedly suffering from malnutrition. The youngster was pictured on Saturday curled into a ball as he sipped water from a bottle. It is the latest in a series of heartbreaking images to emerge from Palestine amid claims its residents are starving, and a row over the cause between Israel and foreign critics. Last month, pictures of Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, an 18-month-old child who was diagnosed with severe malnutrition, were featured across the Western media. But subsequently it emerged the child had pre-existing medical conditions. Pro-Palestinian voices blame Israel for the images of starvation, accusing them of blocking aid. Israel denies these claims and accuses Hamas of stealing and hoarding aid - and the UN of failing to deliver life-saving supplies. Videos reportedly shared from terror tunnels underneath Gaza City have previously shown Hamas militants surrounded by food and smiling, while citizens above desperately fight for food. UN-backed experts have said they have 'mounting evidence of famine' in Gaza, calling for Israel to allow more aid to enter, while Israel insists there is no starvation, arguing Hamas is using a 'famine narrative' for leverage in ceasefire talks, and blocking aid. As the blame game continues to rage, the international community has been scrambling to air drop vital supplies and food into the war-torn Gaza strip In desperate scenes, a 15-year-old boy was reportedly crushed to death by a falling pallet yesterday during an airdrop of humanitarian aid near the so-called Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza. The footage, verified by news agency Al Jazeera, shows people scrambling to try and save Muhannad Zakaria Eid on Saturday. Some people try to resuscitate the lifeless teenager, whose face appears bloodied. Other footage shows the boy's brother carrying him away from the site and his father clutching his body at al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat. Eid's brother told the Reuters news agency the teen was killed after an aid pallet fell on top of him. 'Despite the famine and the hard conditions that we live in, my brother went to get aid that was dropped into the sea by [aero]planes. A box fell on him directly and he was martyred,' he said. 'They [the countries involved in the airdrops] cannot enter the aid through the crossing but they drop them over us and kill our children. A kid was killed in [az-]Zawayda and here and there, and nobody feels us. God is sufficient for us, against them and their aid,' he added. The tragedy comes amid repeated warnings from the UN that airdrops were potentially dangerous, costly and inefficient. Around a million civilians are now thought to now be sheltering in the war-torn enclave, which has largely been reduced to rubble after almost two years of bombardment. Over the last 24 hours, the Hamas-run health ministry claims at least 38 people have been killed and 491 injured as a result of Israeli military. The figures have not yet been independently verified. Deaths continue to rise amid reports that a deadline of October 7 has been set for residents to evacuate Gaza City following the announcement of a controversial Israeli plan to take control of the area. The new plan, approved by the Israeli security cabinet and detailed on Friday, lists five 'principles' for ending the war in Gaza, with one being 'taking security control of the territory'. Reports in Israeli media say the action plan initially focuses on seizing full control of Gaza City, relocating its estimated one million residents further south. However, the proposals have been met with fierce criticism from the international community, as well as senior figures in the Israeli military. It comes amid fears over what impact the full-scale onslaught could have on the civilian population still stranded in Gaza - as well as to the remaining Israeli hostages still held captive by terror group Hamas. Israel has so far shrugged off the criticism from world leaders, with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying global condemnation would 'not weaken our resolve'. America has seemingly been less critical, with president Donald Trump saying earlier this week it was 'pretty much up to Israel' whether to occupy Gaza or not. The move to take full control of Gaza could potentially make the plight of Palestinians worse in the short term, with fears the fighting could further restrict aid routes into the enclave. The UN's humanitarian agency said on Friday the amount of aid entering Gaza continues to be 'far below the minimum required to meet people's immense needs '. Experts from the UN-backed global food security organisation have warned the 'worst-case scenario of famine' is already playing out. Israel has denied there is any famine and accused UN agencies of not picking up aid at the borders and delivering it. But the UN claims its workers are being impeded at the borders. In its announcement of the plan to seize Gaza City, Israel's prime minister's office insisted it will provide 'humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones'. However, it did not provide further details of what that might entail.
The Guardian
16 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘A deadly scheme': Palestinians face indiscriminate gunfire at food sites
Warning: includes images of blood and graphic scenes Ehab Nuor, a 23-year-old barber, lies flat on the sand behind entangled metal, hiding from heavy machine-gun fire, as hundreds of Palestinians scramble away, carrying backpacks in which they had hoped to collect food. Nuor has come under fire from the Israeli military near food distribution centres on more than 10 occasions. A Guardian investigation analysing visual evidence, bullets, medical data and patterns of injuries from two hospitals, as well as interviews with medical organisations and surgeons, across approximately 50 days of food distribution, appears to show a sustained Israeli pattern of firing on Palestinians seeking food. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. The Guardian studied more than 30 videos of gunfire near food distribution sites run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). More than 2,000 Palestinians were injured during the 48 days investigated, mostly by gunshots. In the footage, machine-gun fire can be heard on at least 11 days near the food distribution sites. Bullet casings recovered from patients, and patterns of fire analysed by weapons experts, suggest they were Israeli munitions. Palestinians, like Nuor, who travel to GHF sites have come under systematic and indiscriminate Israeli gunfire. Doctors at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis and the Red Cross field hospital in Rafah described treating an unprecedented number of gunshot wounds. Almost all responsive patients arriving at the field hospital say they were shot by the Israeli military while trying to reach a food distribution site. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the casualty numbers were higher than the combined number of patients they had treated during mass-casualty incidents over the entire previous year. In data seen by the Guardian, more than 100 of these patients were declared dead on arrival. Just last week, Nuor dodged bullets again: 'This is how we get flour in Gaza. We just want to live – enough is enough.' In one video, an Israeli tank is clearly visible, and gunshots can be heard. According to the UN, at least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed since 27 May while seeking food, with 859 killed in the vicinity of GHF sites and 514 along the routes of food convoys. A long road runs near the GHF food site in northern Rafah, where crowds gather that are so large they can be seen from space. It is here that Palestinians trying to get food have come under intense fire. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. One clip from July shows the bullets hitting the sand as a row of Palestinians hide. 'The gunfire at us was random,' said Mohammed Sleiman Abu Lebda, 20, covered in bandages and watching the video on his phone from a hospital bed. He said he had been waiting for two hours at the distribution site when the Israeli military opened fire on the crowd. The man beside him was torn apart, his remains carried away in the bag he had brought to collect flour, Lebda said. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. Of the 21 days of shootings at food distribution sites in June in which about 2,000 Palestinians were injured, the Israeli military acknowledged opening fire on 'suspects' or firing 'warning shots' on eight occasions, but repeatedly denied targeting civilians. In some of these cases, it said it was aware of reports of injuries, and seven cases were 'under review'. In several cases, the GHF denied there had been 'an incident' in the immediate vicinity of its sites. The British weapons expert Chris Cobb-Smith, commenting on the footage in which gunshots pepper the sand, said the action was 'reckless and irresponsible', adding: 'There is no tactical reason to employ small-arms fire to that degree near crowds of non-combatants. It is utterly outrageous.' Trevor Ball, an American weapons expert, said: 'If this is intended as warning shots, it is an unsafe practice. Aiming that close to people creates a significant risk of harm or death. Bullets can ricochet, as well as have their trajectory affected by the wind and other non-human, as well as human, factors. These risks increase with distance.' Images of eight bullets removed from people shot near GHF sites were shared with the Guardian by doctors from Nasser hospital. The weapons experts analysed two of the bullets, using measurements. Ball said: 'These bullets are consistent with 7.62x51mm, a standard IDF [Israel Defense Forces] calibre. The other is .50 cal, which is used by IDF machine guns, and some Hamas sniper rifles.' Cobb-Smith found the same calibres and concurred with Ball. He added it was difficult to be specific about the calibre of the other six bullets and attribute them without exact measurements, but that they were all high-velocity rounds, implying probable military issue. Prof Nick Maynard, a consultant surgeon at Oxford university hospital, has been visiting Gaza since 2010, and has completed three missions to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis since the start of the war. Speaking between surgeries, he said that since the GHF sites opened he had predominantly seen gunshot wounds. Maynard said he had seen a clustering of similar injuries that coincided with the days when food was distributed – between six and 12 patients coming in with the same injuries – gunshots to the neck, head or arms. 'The clustering of similar injuries in one day suggests this is a targeting activity at particular body parts.' He added: 'The other night, we admitted four teenage boys, all of whom have been shot in the testicles.' Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. Another surgeon at Nasser, Goher Rahbour, described treating an unusually high number of mass-casualty incidents, mostly young boys returning from GHF sites: '100% of the time, [they said] it's from the Israeli forces.' In Rafah, the 60-bed Red Cross field hospital received more than 2,200 patients from more than 21 separate mass-casualty incidents – those with more than 30 injured people at once – between 27 May, when the GHF sites opened, and 26 June, according to hospital admission records seen by the Guardian. The Israeli military has claimed Hamas is stealing aid, despite the European Commission finding no reports of this. At the end of May, the Israeli government promised to lift its siege of Gaza so the GHF could set up its centres. Veteran aid groups were denied entry. From the start, the GHF distribution was violent, with more than 400 Palestinians injured in the first week alone, and more than 30 patients dead on arrival at the ICRC field hospital. The first food distribution site was in a zone in west Rafah flagged by Israel for evacuation. To collect food, Palestinians had to defy the orders. Four days later, in June, sporadic machine-gun fire was heard near the GHF site in the early morning hours. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. 'They are shooting at us, I swear,' said 30-year-old Ameen Khalifa. 'We come to get food for our lives, drenched in blood. We will die because we're trying to get food.' About 170 Palestinians were injured that day, and 30 killed. Khalifa survived, but not for long. His family said he was shot and killed in the same area two days later while trying to collect food. 'There is no arrangement, no order, no humanitarian conditions or anything that respects a human being,' Khalifa's brother said in an interview from a camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza. Israel's military admitted firing 'warning shots' toward individuals who approached its forces, and the GHF said food was handed out that day without incident. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. Ahmad Zeidan, a young boy, had queued to collect food from 7pm the previous night with his mother and sister, after receiving word of the distribution from the Israeli military. He claimed the Israeli military opened fire. His mother was killed. 'I advise people not to go [to the food sites]. Damn this aid … Either we get them while maintaining our dignity, or we don't want them. My mother is gone,' he cried outside Nasser hospital while waiting to collect her body. The IDF said its forces had opened fire on a group of people they viewed as a threat but denied targeting civilians, adding that it was investigating the events. The GHF said the incident occurred in an area beyond their secure distribution site and control. Ehab Nuor visited four food sites run by the GHF in June and July, and faced gunfire near all four. All of these sites were within areas the IDF designated for evacuation, placing Palestinians in direct danger. Between 16 and 20 June, as the world focused on the war between Israel and Iran, the shootings intensified, injuring 600 Palestinians near food sites. Videos show floodlights cutting through the dark around GHF sites, as an endless stream of Palestinians carry away white flour bags and gunshots ring out. Other videos show Palestinians huddled outside the perimeter of a GHF site, with gunshots audible. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. Ball said machine guns were widely issued to IDF infantry and mounted on vehicles. By comparison, Hamas had some machine guns and captured IDF weapons but these were rarely seen except on ceremonial occasions. All survivors and patients treated by doctors said they had come under Israeli fire. The Israeli military released a video of an IDF spokesperson, Nadav Shoshani, standing near a GHF food site, saying: 'The idea is to give aid directly to Gazan civilians and bypass Hamas's hands … This is a new solution that brings aid directly to the people of Gaza … They have been going in and out peacefully …… They feel safe'. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. But the evidence analysed indicates otherwise. Under international humanitarian law, those involved in aid delivery and those backing its operations have a duty to ensure humanitarian assistance is provided safely, impartially, and without exposing civilians to additional risk, including ensuring safe access. Reviewing the Guardian's findings, Adil Haque, a professor of law at Rutgers University, New Jersey, said: 'These are grave breaches of the fourth Geneva convention as well as war crimes under customary international law and the ICC [international criminal court] statute. A soldier may argue that they acted reasonably to defend themselves or others. However, it is neither reasonable nor proportionate to fire on unarmed civilians at a distance.' Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam's policy lead for the Palestinian territories, who has family members trapped in Gaza, believes this is not a humanitarian system. 'It's a deadly scheme,' she said. Recent reports indicated that some members of the Israeli military had been ordered to open fire on civilians collecting food, while US contractors said their colleagues had fired live ammunition at Palestinians collecting food in Gaza. An IDF spokesperson told the Guardian: 'The IDF unequivocally denies the false allegation that it deliberately targets Palestinian civilians. The army's binding orders prohibit forces operating in the area from intentionally firing at minors. The IDF operates according to international law and upholds the highest ethical standards in its operations.' The IDF said it operated near the new distribution areas to 'facilitate the aid efforts while continuing IDF operational activity in the Gaza Strip', but did not confirm details of the review into incidents of civilian harm. It said that after an examination by its southern command, 'instructions [were] issued to field forces following lessons learned'. It added that IDF forces had conducted 'learning processes aimed at improving the operational response … and minimising possible friction between the population and the IDF' and this had been achieved through 'the installation of fences, signage placement, the opening of additional routes, and other measures'. A GHF spokesperson accused the Guardian of aiding a terrorist organisation and said: 'The false and exaggerated statistics used in these reports seem to directly align with the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry … GHF has communicated to the UN and other humanitarian groups that we remain flexible and willing to sit down and address their concerns to find a path forward to collaborate and coordinate to securely deliver the maximum amount of aid possible.' Earlier this week, the US ambassador to Israel called the GHF food distribution 'phenomenal', dismissing reports of IDF fire killing Palestinians as 'nonsense'. He announced the possibility of opening 12 more food sites, and commencement of a 24 hour operation. For Nuor, there is no respite. He now starves in a tent along with his family. Additional reporting by Hoda Osman and Zarifa Abou Quora
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
‘A deadly scheme': Palestinians face indiscriminate gunfire at food sites
Warning: includes images of blood and graphic scenes Ehab Nuor, a 23-year-old barber, lies flat on the sand behind entangled metal, hiding from heavy machine-gun fire, as hundreds of Palestinians scramble away, carrying backpacks in which they had hoped to collect food. Nuor has come under fire from the Israeli military near food distribution centres on more than 10 occasions. A Guardian investigation analysing visual evidence, bullets, medical data and patterns of injuries from two hospitals, as well as interviews with medical organisations and surgeons, across approximately 50 days of food distribution, appears to show a sustained Israeli pattern of firing on Palestinians seeking food. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. The Guardian studied more than 30 videos of gunfire near food distribution sites run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). More than 2,000 Palestinians were injured during the 48 days investigated, mostly by gunshots. In the footage, machine-gun fire can be heard on at least 11 days near the food distribution sites. Bullet casings recovered from patients, and patterns of fire analysed by weapons experts, suggest they were Israeli munitions. Palestinians, like Nuor, who travel to GHF sites have come under systematic and indiscriminate Israeli gunfire. Doctors at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis and the Red Cross field hospital in Rafah described treating an unprecedented number of gunshot wounds. Almost all responsive patients arriving at the field hospital say they were shot by the Israeli military while trying to reach a food distribution site. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the casualty numbers were higher than the combined number of patients they had treated during mass-casualty incidents over the entire previous year. In data seen by the Guardian, more than 100 of these patients were declared dead on arrival. Just last week, Nuor dodged bullets again: 'This is how we get flour in Gaza. We just want to live – enough is enough.' In one video, an Israeli tank is clearly visible, and gunshots can be heard. According to the UN, at least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed since 27 May while seeking food, with 859 killed in the vicinity of GHF sites and 514 along the routes of food convoys. A long road runs near the GHF food site in northern Rafah, where crowds gather that are so large they can be seen from space. It is here that Palestinians trying to get food have come under intense fire. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. One clip from July shows the bullets hitting the sand as a row of Palestinians hide. 'The gunfire at us was random,' said Mohammed Sleiman Abu Lebda, 20, covered in bandages and watching the video on his phone from a hospital bed. He said he had been waiting for two hours at the distribution site when the Israeli military opened fire on the crowd. The man beside him was torn apart, his remains carried away in the bag he had brought to collect flour, Lebda said. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. Of the 21 days of shootings at food distribution sites in June in which about 2,000 Palestinians were injured, the Israeli military acknowledged opening fire on 'suspects' or firing 'warning shots' on eight occasions, but repeatedly denied targeting civilians. In some of these cases, it said it was aware of reports of injuries, and seven cases were 'under review'. In several cases, the GHF denied there had been 'an incident' in the immediate vicinity of its sites. The British weapons expert Chris Cobb-Smith, commenting on the footage in which gunshots pepper the sand, said the action was 'reckless and irresponsible', adding: 'There is no tactical reason to employ small-arms fire to that degree near crowds of non-combatants. It is utterly outrageous.' Trevor Ball, an American weapons expert, said: 'If this is intended as warning shots, it is an unsafe practice. Aiming that close to people creates a significant risk of harm or death. Bullets can ricochet, as well as have their trajectory affected by the wind and other non-human, as well as human, factors. These risks increase with distance.' Images of eight bullets removed from people shot near GHF sites were shared with the Guardian by doctors from Nasser hospital. The weapons experts analysed two of the bullets, using measurements. Ball said: 'These bullets are consistent with 7.62x51mm, a standard IDF [Israel Defense Forces] calibre. The other is .50 cal, which is used by IDF machine guns, and some Hamas sniper rifles.' Cobb-Smith found the same calibres and concurred with Ball. He added it was difficult to be specific about the calibre of the other six bullets and attribute them without exact measurements, but that they were all high-velocity rounds, implying probable military issue. Prof Nick Maynard, a consultant surgeon at Oxford university hospital, has been visiting Gaza since 2010, and has completed three missions to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis since the start of the war. Speaking between surgeries, he said that since the GHF sites opened he had predominantly seen gunshot wounds. Maynard said he had seen a clustering of similar injuries that coincided with the days when food was distributed – between six and 12 patients coming in with the same injuries – gunshots to the neck, head or arms. 'The clustering of similar injuries in one day suggests this is a targeting activity at particular body parts.' He added: 'The other night, we admitted four teenage boys, all of whom have been shot in the testicles.' Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. Another surgeon at Nasser, Goher Rahbour, described treating an unusually high number of mass-casualty incidents, mostly young boys returning from GHF sites: '100% of the time, [they said] it's from the Israeli forces.' In Rafah, the 60-bed Red Cross field hospital received more than 2,200 patients from more than 21 separate mass-casualty incidents – those with more than 30 injured people at once – between 27 May, when the GHF sites opened, and 26 June, according to hospital admission records seen by the Guardian. The Israeli military has claimed Hamas is stealing aid, despite the European Commission finding no reports of this. At the end of May, the Israeli government promised to lift its siege of Gaza so the GHF could set up its centres. Veteran aid groups were denied entry. From the start, the GHF distribution was violent, with more than 400 Palestinians injured in the first week alone, and more than 30 patients dead on arrival at the ICRC field hospital. The first food distribution site was in a zone in west Rafah flagged by Israel for evacuation. To collect food, Palestinians had to defy the orders. Four days later, in June, sporadic machine-gun fire was heard near the GHF site in the early morning hours. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. 'They are shooting at us, I swear,' said 30-year-old Ameen Khalifa. 'We come to get food for our lives, drenched in blood. We will die because we're trying to get food.' About 170 Palestinians were injured that day, and 30 killed. Khalifa survived, but not for long. His family said he was shot and killed in the same area two days later while trying to collect food. 'There is no arrangement, no order, no humanitarian conditions or anything that respects a human being,' Khalifa's brother said in an interview from a camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza. Israel's military admitted firing 'warning shots' toward individuals who approached its forces, and the GHF said food was handed out that day without incident. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. Ahmad Zeidan, a young boy, had queued to collect food from 7pm the previous night with his mother and sister, after receiving word of the distribution from the Israeli military. He claimed the Israeli military opened fire. His mother was killed. 'I advise people not to go [to the food sites]. Damn this aid … Either we get them while maintaining our dignity, or we don't want them. My mother is gone,' he cried outside Nasser hospital while waiting to collect her body. The IDF said its forces had opened fire on a group of people they viewed as a threat but denied targeting civilians, adding that it was investigating the events. The GHF said the incident occurred in an area beyond their secure distribution site and control. Ehab Nuor visited four food sites run by the GHF in June and July, and faced gunfire near all four. All of these sites were within areas the IDF designated for evacuation, placing Palestinians in direct danger. Between 16 and 20 June, as the world focused on the war between Israel and Iran, the shootings intensified, injuring 600 Palestinians near food sites. Videos show floodlights cutting through the dark around GHF sites, as an endless stream of Palestinians carry away white flour bags and gunshots ring out. Other videos show Palestinians huddled outside the perimeter of a GHF site, with gunshots audible. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. Ball said machine guns were widely issued to IDF infantry and mounted on vehicles. By comparison, Hamas had some machine guns and captured IDF weapons but these were rarely seen except on ceremonial occasions. All survivors and patients treated by doctors said they had come under Israeli fire. The Israeli military released a video of an IDF spokesperson, Nadav Shoshani, standing near a GHF food site, saying: 'The idea is to give aid directly to Gazan civilians and bypass Hamas's hands … This is a new solution that brings aid directly to the people of Gaza … They have been going in and out peacefully …… They feel safe'. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. But the evidence analysed indicates otherwise. Under international humanitarian law, those involved in aid delivery and those backing its operations have a duty to ensure humanitarian assistance is provided safely, impartially, and without exposing civilians to additional risk, including ensuring safe access. Reviewing the Guardian's findings, Adil Haque, a professor of law at Rutgers University, New Jersey, said: 'These are grave breaches of the fourth Geneva convention as well as war crimes under customary international law and the ICC [international criminal court] statute. A soldier may argue that they acted reasonably to defend themselves or others. However, it is neither reasonable nor proportionate to fire on unarmed civilians at a distance.' Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam's policy lead for the Palestinian territories, who has family members trapped in Gaza, believes this is not a humanitarian system. 'It's a deadly scheme,' she said. Recent reports indicated that some members of the Israeli military had been ordered to open fire on civilians collecting food, while US contractors said their colleagues had fired live ammunition at Palestinians collecting food in Gaza. An IDF spokesperson told the Guardian: 'The IDF unequivocally denies the false allegation that it deliberately targets Palestinian civilians. The army's binding orders prohibit forces operating in the area from intentionally firing at minors. The IDF operates according to international law and upholds the highest ethical standards in its operations.' The IDF said it operated near the new distribution areas to 'facilitate the aid efforts while continuing IDF operational activity in the Gaza Strip', but did not confirm details of the review into incidents of civilian harm. It said that after an examination by its southern command, 'instructions [were] issued to field forces following lessons learned'. It added that IDF forces had conducted 'learning processes aimed at improving the operational response … and minimising possible friction between the population and the IDF' and this had been achieved through 'the installation of fences, signage placement, the opening of additional routes, and other measures'. A GHF spokesperson accused the Guardian of aiding a terrorist organisation and said: 'The false and exaggerated statistics used in these reports seem to directly align with the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry … GHF has communicated to the UN and other humanitarian groups that we remain flexible and willing to sit down and address their concerns to find a path forward to collaborate and coordinate to securely deliver the maximum amount of aid possible.' Earlier this week, the US ambassador to Israel called the GHF food distribution 'phenomenal', dismissing reports of IDF fire killing Palestinians as 'nonsense'. He announced the possibility of opening 12 more food sites, and commencement of a 24 hour operation. For Nuor, there is no respite. He now starves in a tent along with his family. Additional reporting by Hoda Osman and Zarifa Abou Quora
