At Least 20 Killed in Stampede Outside a Gaza Food Site, Aid Organization Says
The deaths bring the number of people killed while trying to get food from the organization to about 700 since late May, according to data provided this week by the United Nations.
There were conflicting reports about the melee, which started on Wednesday morning on the outskirts of Khan Younis, the largest city in southern Gaza.
The Gaza Health Ministry said tear gas was fired into a crowd gathered at the distribution site, causing a stampede. It said 21 people were killed, 15 of whom suffocated.
The aid organization said that 20 people were killed after armed agitators among a gathering crowd at its Khan Younis distribution site created a 'chaotic and dangerous surge.'
It was not immediately possible to explain the discrepancy in the death toll.
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New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
20 Palestinians killed at Gaza aid distribution site
Twenty Palestinians were killed Wednesday, most of them trampled in a crowd at a food distribution site run by an Israeli-backed American organization in the Gaza Strip, the group said, the first time it has reported deaths at its operations. They came as Israeli strikes killed 41 others, including 11 children, according to hospital officials. The Gaza Humanitarian Fund accused the Hamas militant group of fomenting unrest in the crowd, leading to a 'dangerous surge,' though it provided no evidence to support the claim. Witnesses said GHF guards threw stun grenades and used pepper spray on people pressing to get into the site before it opened, causing a panic in the narrow, fenced-in entrance. Advertisement 5 Twenty Palestinians were killed Wednesday, most of them trampled in a crowd at a food distribution site run by an Israeli-backed American organization in the Gaza Strip, the group said. REUTERS It was the first time GHF had confirmed deaths at one of its food hubs. But since the sites began operating in late May, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in shootings by Israeli soldiers while on roads heading to the sites, according to witnesses and health officials. GHF's four sites are all in military-controlled zones, and the Israeli military has said its troops have only fired warning shots to control crowds. Advertisement Gaza's more than two million Palestinians are living through a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, and many are teetering on the edge of famine, according to food security experts. Stun grenades and pepper spray caused chaos, witnesses say GHF said it believed that 19 of the dead died from trampling at its food distribution center between the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, and one was killed by a stabbing in the crowd. 5 The Gaza Humanitarian Fund accused the Hamas militant group of fomenting unrest in the crowd, leading to a 'dangerous surge,' though it provided no evidence to support the claim. REUTERS The Gaza Health Ministry said 17 people suffocated at the site and three others were shot. It was not clear if the shootings took place during the crush or earlier on the road to the center. The witnesses did not report shots fired at the center but said Israeli troops fired on the crowds as they headed to the location. Advertisement Witnesses said that thousands of Palestinians arrived at the site early in the morning, and the American contractors guarding it did not open the gates. It was not clear if it was before the site's opening time or if it was not operating at all, since schedules often change. The crowd surged forward at the turnstiles in the fenced-in entranceway, said one survivor, Ahmed Abu Amra. 5 A woman mourns Palestinians who were killed in the incident at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on July 16. REUTERS 'The Americans were calling out on the loudspeakers, 'Go back, go back.' But no one could turn around because it was so crowded,' he said. 'Everyone was on top of each other. We tried to pull out the people who were underneath, but we couldn't. The Americans were throwing stun grenades at us.' Advertisement Other witnesses said the contractors used pepper spray as well. The Health Ministry said tear gas was used, but GHF denied that and said its contractors deployed 'limited use of pepper spray.' It said they fired no shots at the crowd. 'Everyone suffocated from people crushing on top of each other,' said Omar al-Najjar, a Rafah resident, as he and other men carried an injured man on a stretcher. He said the chaos at the sites is forcing Palestinians to 'march towards death.' GHF said it believed elements in the crowd 'armed and affiliated with Hamas' fomented the unrest. It said that its contractors identified men with firearms in the crowd and confiscated one. Distribution at the GHF sites has often been chaotic. Boxes of food are left stacked on the ground inside the center and, once opened, crowds charge in to grab whatever they can, according to witnesses and videos released by GHF itself. In videos obtained recently by The Associated Press from an American contractor working with GHF, contractors are seen using tear gas and stun grenades to keep crowds back behind metal fences or to force them to disperse. Gunshots can also be heard. The United Nations human rights office said Tuesday that 875 Palestinians were killed while seeking food since May. Of those, 674 were killed while en route to GHF food sites. The rest were reportedly killed while waiting for aid trucks entering Gaza. Across Gaza, strikes kill 41 as Israel opens a new military corridor Meanwhile, Israeli strikes killed 22 people in Gaza City, including 11 children and three women, and 19 others in Khan Younis. The Israeli military said it has struck more than 120 targets in the past 24 hours across the Gaza Strip, including Hamas military infrastructure of tunnels and weapons storage facilities. Advertisement 5 Witnesses said GHF guards threw stun grenades and used pepper spray on people pressing to get into the site before it opened, causing a panic in the narrow, fenced-in entrance. REUTERS Israel blames Hamas for the civilian deaths because the group often operates in residential areas. Also on Wednesday, the Israeli military announced the opening of a new corridor — the fourth — that bisects Khan Younis, where Israeli troops have seized land in what they said is a pressure tactic against Hamas. In the past, these narrow strips of land have been a serious hurdle during ceasefire negotiations, as Israel has said it wants to maintain a military presence in them. Negotiations in the Qatari capital between Israel and Hamas are at a standstill, after 21 months of war, which began with the militants' cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023. That day, militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Advertisement 5 Palestinians who were seeking aid on Wednesday in Khan Younis were brought into the Nasser hospital following the incident. REUTERS Fifty hostages are still being held, fewer than half of them believed to be alive. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 58,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up more than half of the dead. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its tally. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government but is led by medical professionals. The United Nations and other international organizations consider their figures to be the most reliable count of war casualties.
The Hill
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Time Magazine
an hour ago
- Time Magazine
At Least 20 Killed in Gaza Aid Site Stampede
At least 20 people were killed in a stampede at an aid distribution site in Gaza on Wednesday, according to Gaza health officials and the U.S.-backed aid group operating the site. The incident is the latest in a series of deadly events near aid hubs run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a U.S.-based organization operating with Israeli support. GHF was designated lead distributor of aid in Gaza in late May amid international pressure over Israel's months-long blockade, which had pushed the enclave to the edge of famine. The death toll of Palestinians killed near GHF aid hubs has now reached nearly 700, according to United Nations figures released on Tuesday. The GHF claimed the stampede, which took place on its distribution hub in Khan Younis, was intentionally caused by agitators in the crowd. The organization reported 19 people were trampled and one person was fatally stabbed during what it described as a 'chaotic and dangerous surge.' 'We have credible reason to believe that elements within the crowd – armed and affiliated with Hamas – deliberately fomented the unrest,' GHF said, adding that it recovered at least one firearm during the incident. Gaza's Health Ministry disputed GHF's version of events of what prompted the stampede, calling the statement 'false and misleading.' 'This crime claimed the lives of 21 martyrs this morning, including 15 who died from suffocation and six who were shot with live ammunition, in addition to many others who were injured,' the Health Ministry statement read. The ministry also accused GHF of operating outside humanitarian norms, saying it 'does not adhere to any professional or ethical standards of humanitarian work.' The Health Ministry has alleged that GHF staff, which consists of armed private security personnel, and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have fired directly upon people collecting aid. TIME has reached out to the GHF and the IDF for comment. The Israeli military has declined to comment publicly on the incident, referring questions back to the foundation. Witnesses said guards at the site used pepper spray after locking the gates, trapping people between the gates and the perimeter fence. Other reports from the scene allege that access to the aid center was delayed or blocked, causing panic among those gathered. 'People kept gathering and pressuring each other; when people pushed each who couldn't stand fell under the people and were crushed," Mahmoud Fojo told Reuters. "Some people started jumping over the netted fence and got wounded. We were injured, and God saved us. We were under the people and we said the Shahada (death prayers). We thought we were dying, finished," the eyewitness continued. In a response to the New York Times, the organization said it had used a 'limited' amount of pepper spray, but 'only to safeguard additional loss of life.' GHF and its distribution sites have come under heavy criticism since operations began in May. The day after aid hubs in Gaza opened, one Palestinian was killed and another 48 injured, which appeared to be as a result of Israeli gunfire according to the U.N. Critics have also raised concerns that the placement of GHF aid centers, mostly in southern and central Gaza, may be contributing to the long-term displacement of civilians from the north, where Israeli military operations have continued. Despite the scale of distribution, the UN has warned that aid provided through GHF represents only a fraction of what is needed to stave off starvation for Gaza's population of more than two million.
