Gazans trampled to death in latest chaos at US-backed aid sites
The Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) says 19 people were trampled and one person was stabbed during what it described as a 'chaotic and dangerous surge, driven by agitators in the crowd'.
Palestinian health officials told Reuters at least 20 people had died of suffocation at the site. One medic said lots of people had been crammed into a small space and had been crushed.
GHF, whose aid distribution points have witnessed hundreds of deaths, said it had reason to believe that unrest was 'deliberately fomented' from within the crowd by Hamas.
The aid organisers said the deaths come after days of 'false messages' about aid site openings on sites such as Telegram, which it says has 'fuelled confusion, driving crowds to closed sites, and inciting disorder'.
'We mourn the lives lost today, and we remain committed to providing humanitarian aid as safely and responsibly as possible,' a spokesperson said.
The GHF has come under heavy criticism in recent weeks after the United Nations said it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks at aid points in Gaza run by the foundation.
The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of GHF sites, while the remaining 201 were killed on the routes of other aid convoys, the UN rights office said.
According to a report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz last month, unnamed Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers said they were ordered to shoot at unarmed civilians near aid distribution sites to drive them away or disperse them.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly rejected the report, calling the allegations 'malicious falsehoods'.
The GHF uses private American security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, bypassing a UN-led system that Israel claims has let Hamas loot aid shipments meant for civilians.
But leaked footage has suggested that armed US contractors at one of Gaza's aid distribution hubs appeared to fire at Palestinians, before celebrating.
Video seems to show machine gun fire in the vicinity of civilians seeking aid, with an American voice shouting: 'I think he hit one.'
Another voice adds: 'Hell yeah, boy!'
"Hell yeah, boy!"
US contractors in Gaza cheer after deliberately opening fire on aid-seeking Palestinians.
Source: AP pic.twitter.com/7mG0Wxxoky
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) July 3, 2025
The alleged incident took place at a site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by Israel and the US but condemned by much of the rest of the international community.
A former security contractor at one of the sites told the BBC he saw a guard with a machine gun open fire from a watchtower because a group of women, children and elderly people were moving away from the site too slowly.
Another contractor then opened fire, the whistleblower claimed.
He said: 'A Palestinian man dropped to the ground motionless. And then the other contractor, who was standing there, was like 'Damn, I think you got one'. And then they laughed about it.'
The GHF said the accusations were categorically false, adding that no civilians had ever come under fire at its distribution sites.
The GHF, which began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May after Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade, previously denied that such incidents have occurred on its sites and accused the UN of misinformation.
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