Four Palestinians die in storming of UN food warehouse a day after gunfire at new Gaza aid site
DEIR AL-BALAH: Hundreds of Palestinians stormed a United Nations food warehouse Wednesday in Gaza in a desperate attempt to get something to eat, shouting and shoving each other and even ripping off pieces of the building to get inside. Four people died in the chaos, hospital officials said.
The deaths came a day after a crowd was fired upon while overrunning a new aid-distribution site in the Gaza Strip set up by an Israeli and U.S.-backed foundation, killing at least one Palestinian and wounding 48 others, Gaza's Health Ministry said Wednesday.
The Red Cross Field Hospital said the wounded from that scene included women and children with gunshot wounds.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country killed senior Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar, the brother of Yahya Sinwar, one of the masterminds of the militant group's Oct. 7, 2023, attack, who was killed by Israeli forces last year. Speaking before parliament. Netanyahu included Sinwar in a list of Hamas leaders killed by Israeli forces, apparently confirming his death in a recent airstrike in Gaza.
In other developments Wednesday, Israel carried out airstrikes on the international airport in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, destroying the last plane belonging to the country's flagship airline.
The strikes came after Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired several missiles at Israel in recent days, without causing casualties. The Israeli military said it destroyed aircraft used by the rebels. It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed or wounded in the strikes.
The crowd of Palestinians on Tuesday broke through fences around the distribution site where thousands had gathered. An Associated Press journalist heard Israeli tank and gunfire and saw a military helicopter firing flares.
It was not clear whether Israeli forces, private contractors or others opened fire. The foundation said its military contractors had not fired on the crowd but 'fell back' before resuming aid operations. Israel said its nearby troops had fired warning shots.
The distribution hub outside Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah was opened Monday by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been slated by Israel to take over aid operations.
The U.N. and other humanitarian organizations have rejected the new system, saying it will not be able to meet the needs of Gaza's 2.3 million people and that it allows Israel to use food to control the population. The organizations have also warned of the risk of friction between Israeli troops and people seeking supplies.
Palestinians have become desperate for food after nearly three months of Israeli border closures pushed Gaza to the brink of famine.
Four dead as crowd storms warehouse holding U.N. aid
Palestinians burst into the U.N.'s World Food Program warehouse Wednesday in the central Gaza Strip, pushing each other in the shadow of the cavernous facility's main door. Others ripped off pieces of the metal walls in an effort to get inside.
Two people were fatally crushed in the crowd, while two others died of gunshot wounds, officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said.
Scores of aid-seekers could be seen carrying large bags of flour as they fought their way back out into the sunlight through throngs of people pressing to get inside. Each bag of flour weighs around 25 kilograms (55 pounds).
A United Nations envoy compared the limited aid being allowed into Gaza to 'a lifeboat after the ship has sunk.' Sigrid Kaag, acting U.N. special coordinator for the Mideast, told the U.N. Security Council that people facing famine in Gaza 'have lost hope.'
'Instead of saying 'goodbye,' Palestinians in Gaza now say, 'See you in heaven,'' Kaag said Wednesday.
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