More deaths near Gaza food distribution centre: Hamas
Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip opened fire as people headed toward an aid distribution site a kilometre away, killing at least three people and wounding dozens, health officials and a witness say.
The military said it fired warning shots at "suspects" who approached its forces.
The shooting occurred early on Monday at the same location where witnesses say Israeli forces fired a day earlier on crowds of people heading toward the aid hub in southern Gaza run by the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
The Israeli military said it fired warning shots on Monday towards "several suspects who advanced toward the troops and posed a threat to them", around a kilometre away from the aid distribution site at a time when it was closed. The army denied it was preventing people from reaching the site.
The Israeli military does not prevent civilians from reaching the distribution centres, the army emphasised, saying "Hamas is doing everything in its power to undermine food distribution in the Gaza Strip".
Hamas says that "three starving civilians" were killed in Rafah and 35 people were injured.
The United Nations and major aid groups have rejected the foundation's new system for aid distribution.
They say it violates humanitarian principles and cannot meet mounting needs in the territory of roughly two million people, where experts have warned of famine because of an Israeli blockade that was only slightly eased last month.
In a separate incident Monday, an Israeli strike on a residential building in northern Gaza killed 14 people, according to health officials.
The Shifa and al-Ahli hospitals confirmed the toll from the strike in the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp, saying five women and seven children were among those killed.
The military said it had struck "terror targets" across northern Gaza, without elaborating.
Israel says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militant group is entrenched in populated areas.
A Red Cross field hospital received 50 wounded people, including two declared dead on arrival, after the shooting in southern Gaza, according to Hisham Mhanna, a Red Cross spokesperson.
He said most had gunfire and shrapnel wounds. Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis said it received a third body.
Moataz al-Feirani, who was being treated at Nasser Hospital, said he was shot in his leg as he walked with a crowd of thousands toward the aid distribution site. He said Israeli forces opened fire as they neared the Flag Roundabout at around 5:30am on Monday.
"We had had nothing, and they (military) were watching us," he said, adding that drones were filming them.
On Sunday, at least 31 people were killed and over 170 wounded at the Flag Roundabout as large crowds headed toward the aid site, according to local health officials, aid groups and several eyewitnesses.
The witnesses said Israeli forces opened fire on the crowds at around 3am after ordering them to disperse and come back when the distribution site opens.
Israel's military denied its forces fired at civilians near the aid site in the now mostly uninhabited southern city of Rafah, a military zone off limits to independent media.
An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with procedure, said troops fired warning shots at several suspects advancing toward them overnight.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has denied previous accounts of chaos and gunfire around its sites, said it had delivered aid on both days without incident.
On Sunday night, the foundation issued a statement, saying aid recipients must stay on the designated route to reach the hub Monday, and that Israeli troops are positioned along the way to ensure their security. "Leaving the road is extremely dangerous," the statement said.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in Gaza" on Sunday.
"It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food."
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Sydney Morning Herald
10 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘A place of killing': The US aid agency sowing chaos in Gaza
The aerial photographs show five narrow lanes made of high metal fences wedged between two artificial mounds of earth and topped with barbed wire. Inside, hundreds of people are crammed under the baking sun. The sight of ordinary Gazans corralled into cages is not the image Israel's reputation managers were after. But, just over a week into its controversial new aid delivery scheme to bypass Hamas using a US contractor, that is what they are faced with. That, and viral videos of civilians running for their lives to the sound of gunfire, amid accusations – bitterly denied by Israel – that more than 20 were shot dead by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Sunday as order disintegrated at a distribution centre in the south of the Strip. One man who spoke to The London Telegraph said he found the centre 'terrifying' and 'like a prison', but that he was forced there – kilometres from his temporary home – out of fear that his children would starve. Another called it 'a place of killing'. Fuelling the international criticism is the nature of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the American company created to deliver the new system, with persistent suggestions of CIA involvement, opaque funding and concealed Israeli control. This has been enhanced by condemnation from the UN and other large aid NGOs, which want nothing to do with the GHF and accuse it of politicising aid. After Sunday's alleged shooting, and new claims of gunfire killing more than 20 people overnight, the project's credibility is on a knife-edge. Loading From Israel's point of view, the new system makes perfect sense. The government argues that under the previous model, which it cut off entirely at the beginning of March, Hamas robbed the aid trucks blind – the UN denies this – then sold the food, fuel and medical supplies back to civilians, thus cementing their control over the population and financing their terror infrastructure. By contrast, the new arrangement requires people to travel to four purpose-built distribution centres in the south of the Strip where – it was promised – they would be screened to make sure they are deserving civilians and not terrorists. The idea, in principle, is that while the IDF provides a wider blanket of security, Gazans themselves do not interact with Israeli soldiers, but deal directly with the foundation staff and associated security contractors. Some reports suggest these contractors are paid more than $US1000 a day. 'Places of killing' The UN and legacy NGOs, which used to deliver aid into communities through more than a hundred drop-off points, say this offends basic humanitarian principles, trapping people between starvation and a long and dangerous journey. Omar Baraka, 40, from Khan Younis, said: 'We go to dangerous red zones, the army asks us to walk for several kilometres. 'There is no order in the place, it's very chaotic. 'Tens of thousands of citizens go there. The organisation delivered aid in the first two days, then the centres became places of killing.' Salem Al-Ahmad, an 18-year-old high school student, has ventured to the GHF site on several occasions to try to pick up flour for his family. 'The situation required getting food and saving yourself from death,' he said. 'Anyone who gets aid has to run back quickly, about three kilometres, because the army starts shooting to empty the area of civilians. 'I found a lot of food lying on the ground because it is difficult to carry and run with it. I only had 1kg bags of flour so I could run from the gunfire.' Israeli government officials and their supporters in the press argue that, despite the chaotic scenes, the early days of the new scheme represents a triumph. This is because it shows Gaza's civilian population has passed through the 'fear barrier' – in other words, it shows they are now prepared to defy the terror group's commands not to engage with the GHF. There is certainly evidence that Hamas has tried to put obstacles – some physical, others in the form of propaganda – between the Gazan civilians and the new aid system. It is far less certain to what extent the group has been behind the scenes of chaos at the new distribution centres themselves. Critics say that the scenes of disorder are simply a function of a desperate, starving population and inexperienced aid distributors. Aside from gunfire, flashbangs and smoke grenades have been thrown. Meanwhile, multiple people say that no serious attempt at screening is made. On Monday night, UN human rights chief Volker Turk told the BBC the way humanitarian aid is now being delivered is 'unacceptable' and 'dehumanising'. 'I think what it shows is utter disregard for civilians. Can you imagine people that have been absolutely desperate for food, for medicine, for almost three months and then they have to run for it or try to get it in the most desperate circumstances? Mr Turk told the BBC World Service's Newshour program. Aside from the practical difficulties the new system imposes, it has been accused of serving Benjamin Netanyahu's agenda by forcing the population into the largely levelled south of the Strip, leaving the IDF clear to execute Operation Gideon's Chariot, which, sources have said, will see a similarly widespread demolition of property. Loading Some have even questioned whether the GHF model is a crucial component of an attempt to realise Donald Trump's 'riviera' vision for Gaza, which would see the population displaced ahead of a comprehensive redevelopment. While the president himself now appears lukewarm about the scheme, there are some in Israel's government – notably Defence Minister Israel Katz – who allude to it often. Aside from its performance on the ground, the origins and make-up of the GHF and its partner organisation, Safe Reach Solutions (SRS), continue to provoke comment. The latter is headed by Philip Reilly, a CIA veteran, who is said to have played a role in training the Contra rebels in Nicaragua in the 1980s, and was then the first agency officer into Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks, where he went on to be station chief. SRS previously had the contract to police traffic and people along a main north-south road in Gaza during the January-March ceasefire. A recent investigation by The New York Times suggests that an informal network of powerful individuals in both the IDF and the prime minister's office, known as the Mikveh Yisrael Foru, had been aiming towards a parallel aid system that cut out the NGOs since December 2023. It claimed that the group had identified Reilly as its candidate to lead such a mission as early as January last year, and that the January contract was a key step in convincing Netanyahu to hire him for the aid distribution job. The GHF is a separately registered company, although it was registered by the same lawyer and previously had the same spokesman. A $US100 million donation to the GHF got tongues wagging in Israel that this was really the work of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency – indeed, the former defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said as much. The GHF denies this, saying the donation was from a Western European country, but declined to name which one. 'Tired from malnutrition' Jake Wood, a former US Marine, quit as chief executive of the foundation the day before aid distribution operations began, claiming it violated 'humanitarian principles'. He had previously said: 'I would participate in no plan in any capacity if it was an extension of an IDF plan or an Israeli government plan to forcibly dislocate people anywhere within Gaza.' Back in Rafah, Ahmed Musa, a 34-year-old from Khan Younis, spoke of despair at Sunday's events. 'I left at dawn to go to the American aid centre in the Mawasi area of Rafah,' he said. 'I went there under duress, as I have four hungry children who are tired from malnutrition. 'The scene was terrifying,' he added. 'I sat and cried bitterly over my helplessness that I did not receive anything. But I will try again.'
ABC News
11 hours ago
- ABC News
United Nations says Gaza aid site attacks 'may constitute a war crime'
The United Nations has questioned whether shooting attacks on Palestinians near aid distribution sites in southern Gaza could amount to war crimes, and is demanding an independent investigation into the deadly incidents. Early on Tuesday morning (local time), Palestinian authorities said Israeli forces opened fire on desperate Gazans trying to access a private aid distribution site near Rafah — the third such attack in as many days. At least 27 were killed and dozens more wounded, according to Palestinian health authorities. The International Red Cross said more than 180 people were brought to one of its field hospitals after the shooting. Israeli authorities said they were investigating the latest incident, conceding troops did fire warning shots after some Palestinians deviated from the authorised route to the aid facility. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said more shots were fired when the "suspects" failed to heed the warnings. But Israeli officials have rejected allegations they deliberately targeted civilians, and have questioned the number of dead and injured as a result. "Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza are unconscionable," spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Jeremy Laurence said. "The wilful impediment of access to food and other life-sustaining relief supplies for civilians may constitute a war crime. "The threat of starvation, together with 20 months of killing of civilians and destruction on a massive scale, repeated forced displacements, and intolerable dehumanising rhetoric and threats by Israel's leadership to empty the Strip of its population, also constitute elements of the most serious crimes under international law." Israeli officials said warning shots were fired about 500 metres from the aid site. "The IDF is doing everything in its power to allow Gazans to get to the humanitarian aid," Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said. "The IDF is not preventing the arrival of Gazans at humanitarian aid sites — indeed, we are encouraging it. "The warning shots were fired away from the aid distribution point in response to the threats perceived by the IDF troops." Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis was among the facilities which received an influx of patients after the shooting. "Unfortunately, 90 per cent of the casualties coming to an Nasser medical complex were injured in the upper parts of the body," director of nursing Dr Mohammed Saqer told the ABC. "That indicates that most of them … were in a very serious situation. "We can no longer deal with more cases because all of the hospital beds, in addition to ICU beds, are occupied now — we no longer can provide more care to patients if others came to the emergency department in the future." One of Palestinian injured in the attack was 22-year-old Motaz Alfarati. He said he had been forced to lie waiting for help for more than an hour, after a bullet ripped through his thigh and hit his pelvis. "In one moment we heard the noise of Apache helicopters, they were throwing sound grenades around us and on the asphalt, and anyone who doesn't stand and who moved was shot at by a sniper in his head, in his leg, in his stomach," he told the ABC. There are only a handful of the private aid sites in operation in Gaza — and none are running in the north of the strip. Motaz said thousands had travelled long distances to reach the site, only to be attacked. "There were thousands and thousands who came to the area in order to take aid, but there is not enough for a thousand," he said. "There were people from Beit Lahiya, Jabalia and Gaza City in order to take aid — they come from the different districts and 90 per cent don't take any." The White House said it was aware of the reports of the shootings. "We're going to look into reports before we confirm them from this podium or before we take action," press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. "And I suggest that journalists who actually care about truth do the same to reduce the amount of misinformation that's going around the globe on this front." The IDF blamed Hamas for the first attack on Sunday morning, which killed more than 30 people and injured dozens more. Israeli authorities said Hamas was trying to undermine the new aid distribution model and fuel chaos in southern Gaza. Senior officials and politicians, including Israel's deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel, have pointed to video purporting to show armed gunmen firing upon civilians on Sunday. But the video was recorded in southern Khan Younis, about 8 kilometres away from the aid distribution site. The organisation running the operation, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), insisted food had been distributed without incident, with millions of meals provided to Palestinians. But GHF said it was only commenting on what happened within the perimeter of its facilities, and that anything outside of the fence line was the responsibility of the IDF. The three attacks happened on approach to the aid site. Meanwhile, a consulting firm which had been helping establish GHF has cut ties with the organisation. In a statement, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) said it provided "pro bono support to help establish an aid organisation intended to operate alongside multilateral efforts to deliver humanitarian support to Gaza". "Unapproved follow-on work relating to Gaza lacked buy-in from multilateral stakeholders and was stopped on May 30," the company said. "BCG has not and will not be paid for any of this work. "BCG has begun a formal review of the work, and while that review continues, the partner who led this work has been placed on administrative leave."
Sydney Morning Herald
12 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Gaza aid sites closed as Israel declares ‘combat zones'
Gaza aid distribution centres will be closed for the day on Wednesday, and the Israeli military warned that roads leading to them have been designated as 'combat zones'. The move comes after Palestinian health officials and witnesses said Israeli forces fired on people heading towards an aid distribution site on Tuesday, killing at least 27 people, in the third such incident in three days. The Israeli army said it fired 'near a few individual suspects' who left the designated route, approached its forces and ignored warning shots, and said it was looking into reports of casualties. It has previously denied firing on civilians or blocking them from reaching the aid sites. The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said its distribution centres would be closed for a day for 'update, organisation, and efficiency improvement work'. 'Please do not go to the site and follow general instructions. Operations will resume on Thursday', the group said in a post on Facebook. The GHF has also announced its new executive chairman as an American evangelical Christian leader who previously backed US President Donald Trump's proposal for the US to take over Gaza. Reverend Dr Johnnie Moore, an evangelical adviser to Trump during his first term, replaces former GHF chief Jake Wood, who resigned last week saying the organisation could not fulfil the principles of 'humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence'. In a statement posted on X, Moore said the group 'believes that serving the people of Gaza with dignity and compassion must be the top priority'. 'The old way of doing things just won't get it done,' he said.
