Shots fired at new Gaza food aid hub after thousands overrun center
Chaotic scenes showing civilians in Gaza overrunning one of two new US-backed aid distribution centers have been shared on social media.
Thousands of Palestinians are seen crowding the center near the city of Rafah, which was supplying boxes of food, video taken on Tuesday shows.
The newly opened centers, operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), aim to provide aid to around half of all Palestinians in the territory, or approximately one million people, by the end of the week.
Aid boxes, including bags of rice, dried beans, flour, oil, salt and canned vegetables, were pictured on X.
6 The first two of four aid distribution centers have opened in Gaza.
via REUTERS
'Approximately 8,000 food boxes have been distributed so far. Each box feeds 5.5 people for 3.5 days, totaling 462,000 meals,' the GHF said in a statement earlier.
A further two aid distribution sites — operated by a private American security company and under the supervision of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) — are expected to open in the Gaza Strip.
But after an orderly start to the food distribution, tensions seemed to boil over as thousands crowded around the aid centers, leading to the IDF firing shots to disperse the throngs of people.
6 The aid centers aim to deliver food to half of Gaza's two million inhabitants.
AFP via Getty Images
The IDF was forced to deny reports that its troops opened fire from a helicopter during the disarray at the center.
Israeli forces did not carry out 'any aerial fire toward the humanitarian aid distribution center,' the IDF said in a statement.
However, troops fired warning shots outside the compound, a military source told The Times of Israel.
'Control over the situation was established, food distribution operations are expected to continue as planned, and the safety of IDF troops was not compromised,' the source said.
American security subcontractors fell back to allow 'a small number' of Palestinians to collect food from the distribution center, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said in a statement on Tuesday as it looked to downplay the chaos.
'The needs on the ground are great. At one moment in the late afternoon, the volume of people at the SDS [distribution center] was such that the GHF team fell back to allow a small number of Gazans to take aid safely and dissipate,' the Foundation said in a statement.
6 The supply of food to Gaza has become a major diplomatic incident between Israel and the UN.
Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Aid has been allowed into Gaza for the past week by Israel following a 78-day blockade of the territory.
Operations at the distribution center have since returned to normal, the GHF claimed.
Non-profit leaders, meanwhile, have slammed the foundation as 'selfish' over its alleged mishandling of the new aid distribution center.
6 The destruction in the Gaza Strip.
AFP via Getty Images
'The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has left Palestinians without food. The people that created it are selfish,' Emirati-backed NGO World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andrew wrote on X.
WCK has refused to cooperate with GHF, whose CEO resigned earlier this week in frustration at what he called Israeli restrictions.
The United Nations decried the scenes from the Gaza food distribution center on Tuesday as 'heartbreaking.'
6 The UN has accused Israel of making it difficult to supply aid to Gaza.
REUTERS
'We have been watching the video coming out of Gaza around one of the distribution points set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. And frankly, these videos, these images, are heartbreaking to say the least,' Stephane Dujarric, a spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres, said in a statement.
6 For its part, Israel has accused the UN of failing to collect humanitarian aid.
via REUTERS
Israel is still allowing the UN to deliver aid, but with obstacles, Dujarric added.
For its part, Israel has accused the UN of failing to collect the humanitarian aid it says is piling up on the Israeli side of the Gaza border.
More than 400 truckloads of humanitarian aid are still awaiting collection and distribution by the UN, the Israeli Defense Ministry's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said in a statement.
'In the past few days, the UN has avoided fulfilling its role and instead continues to spread false and incorrect information regarding civilian distress,' COGAT chief Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian said.
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