UN blasts new US-backed aid distribution system in Gaza
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories - The UN on Wednesday condemned a US-backed aid system in Gaza after 47 people were injured during a chaotic food distribution, where the Israeli military said it did not open fire at crowds.
The issue of aid has come sharply into focus amid a hunger crisis coupled with intense criticism of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a shadowy group that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory.
According to the UN, 47 people were injured in the mayhem that erupted on Tuesday when thousands of Palestinians desperate for food rushed into a GHF aid distribution site, while a Palestinian medical source said at least one had died.
Ajith Sunghay, the head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories, said most of the wounded had been hurt by gunfire, and based on the information he had, "it was shooting from the IDF" - the Israeli military.
The Israeli military rejected the accusation, with Colonel Olivier Rafowicz telling AFP that Israeli soldiers "fired warning shots into the air, in the area outside" the centre managed by the GHF, and "in no case towards the people."
With the war sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel entering its 600th day on Wednesday, Palestinians in Gaza felt there was no reason to hope for a better future.
In Israel, the relatives of people held hostage in Gaza since the 7 October attack longed for the return of their loved ones, with hundreds gathering in their name in Tel Aviv.
"Six hundred days have passed and nothing has changed. Death continues, and Israeli bombing does not stop," said Bassam Daloul, 40, adding that "even hoping for a ceasefire feels like a dream and a nightmare."
'WASTE OF RESOURCES'
The UN has repeatedly hit out against the GHF, which faces accusations of failing to fulfil the principles of humanitarian work, and Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, on Wednesday reiterated the criticism.
"I believe it is a waste of resources and a distraction from atrocities. We already have an aid distribution system that is fit for purpose," he said during a visit in Japan.
In Gaza, the civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes killed 16 people since dawn Wednesday.
Heba Jabr, 29, who sleeps in a tent in southern Gaza with her husband and their two children, was struggling to find food.
"Dying by bombing is much better than dying from the humiliation of hunger and being unable to provide bread and water for your children", she told AFP.
Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza for over two months, before allowing supplies in at a trickle last week.
A medical source in southern Gaza told AFP that after Tuesday's stampede at the GHF site "more than 40 injured people arrived at Nasser Hospital, the majority of them wounded by Israeli gunfire", adding that at least one had died since.
The source added that "a number of other civilians also arrived at the hospital with various bruises".
HOSTAGE FAMILIES' ANGUISH
On Tuesday, the GHF said around "8,000 food boxes have been distributed so far... totalling 462,000 meals".
UN agencies and aid groups have argued that the GHF's designation of so-called secure distribution sites contravenes the principle of humanity because it would force already displaced people to move again in order to stay alive.
Israel stepped up its military offensive in Gaza earlier this month, while mediators push for a ceasefire that remains elusive.
In Israel, hundreds of people gathered to call for a ceasefire that would allow for the release of hostages held by militants in Gaza since their 2023 attack.
Protesters gathered along the country's roads and on the main highway running through the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv at 6:29 am, the exact time the unprecedented 7 October attack began.
Most Israeli media headlines read "600 days", and focused on the hostage families' struggle to get their relatives home.
Other events were planned across Israel to make the 600th day of captivity for the 57 remaining hostages still in Gaza.
Some 1,218 people were killed in Hamas' 7 October, 2023, attack, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Wednesday that at least 3,924 people had been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire on 18 March, taking the war's overall toll to 54,084, mostly civilians.
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