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Straits Times
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Palestinians' dangerous ordeal to reach Israeli-approved aid
A Palestinian man displays the aid supplies he received from the U.S.-supported Gaza Relief Organization, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, June 5, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled Palestinians carry aid supplies from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled A Palestinian man, next to a child, displays the aid supplies he received from the U.S.-supported Gaza Relief Organization, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, June 5, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled A Palestinian carries a sack as he and others gather to collect aid supplies from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled A Palestinian carries a box with aid supplies from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled GAZA/CAIRO - When university professor Nizam Salama made his way to a southern Gaza aid point last week, he came under fire twice, was crushed in a desperate crowd of hungry people and finally left empty handed. Shooting first started shortly after he left his family's tent at 3 a.m. on June 3 to join crowds on the coast road heading towards the aid site in the city of Rafah run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a new U.S.-based organization working with private military contractors to deliver aid in Gaza. The second time Salama came under fire was at Alam Roundabout close to the aid delivery site, where he saw six dead bodies. Twenty-seven people were killed that day by Israeli fire on aid seekers, Palestinian health authorities said. Israel said its forces had shot at a group of people they viewed as a threat and the military is investigating the incident. At the aid delivery site, known as SDS 1, queues snaked through narrow cage-like fences before gates were opened to an area surrounded by sand barriers where packages of supplies were left on tables and in boxes on the ground, according to undated CCTV video distributed by GHF, reviewed by Reuters. Salama said the rush of thousands of people once the gates opened was a "death trap." "Survival is for the stronger: people who are fitter and can make it earlier and can push harder to win the package," he said. "I felt my ribs going into each other. My chest was going into itself. My breath...I couldn't breathe. People were shouting; they couldn't breathe at all." Reuters could not independently verify all the details of Salama's account. It matched the testimonies of two other aid seekers interviewed by Reuters, who spoke of crawling and ducking as bullets rattled overhead on their way to or from the aid distribution sites. All three witnesses said they saw dead bodies on their journeys to and from the Rafah sites. A statement from a nearby Red Cross field hospital confirmed the number of dead from the attack near the aid site on June 3. Asked about the high number of deaths since it began operations on May 26, GHF said there had been no casualties at or in the close vicinity of its site. The Israeli military didn't respond to detailed requests for comment. Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin told reporters on Sunday that Hamas was "doing its best" to provoke troops, who "shoot to stop the threat" in what he called a war zone in the vicinity of the aid sites. He said military investigations were underway "to see where we were wrong." Salama, 52, had heard enough about the new system to know it would be difficult to get aid, he said, but his five children - including two adults, two teenagers and a nine-year-old - needed food. They have been eating only lentils or pasta for months, he said, often only a single meal a day. "I was completely against going to the aid site of the American company (GHF) because I knew and I had heard how humiliating it is to do so, but I had no choice because of the bad need to feed my family," said the professor of education administration. In total, 127 Palestinians have been killed trying to get aid from GHF sites in almost daily shootings since distribution under the new system began two weeks ago, Gaza's health authority said on Monday. The system appears to violate core principles of humanitarian aid, said Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, a major humanitarian organisation. He compared it to the Hunger Games, the dystopian novels that set people to run and fight to the death. "A few will be rewarded and the many will only risk their lives for nothing," Egeland said. "International humanitarian law has prescribed that aid in war zones should be provided by neutral intermediaries that can make sure that the most vulnerable will get the relief according to needs alone and not as part of a political or military strategy," he said. GHF did not directly respond to a question about its neutrality, replying that it had securely delivered enough aid for more than 11 million meals in two weeks. Gaza's population is around 2.1 million people. FAMINE RISK Israel allowed limited U.N.-led aid operations to resume on May 19 after an 11-week blockade in the enclave, where experts a week earlier warned a famine looms. The U.N. has described the aid allowed into Gaza as "drop in the ocean." Separate to the U.N. operation, Israel allowed GHF to open four sites in Gaza, bypassing traditional aid groups. The GHF sites are overseen by a U.S. logistics company run by a former CIA official and part-owned by a Chicago-based private equity firm, with security provided by U.S. military veterans working for a private contractor, two sources have told Reuters. An Israeli defence official involved in humanitarian matters told Reuters GHF's distribution centres were sufficient for around 1.2 million people. Israel and the United States have urged the U.N. to work with GHF, which has seen a high churn of top personnel, although both countries deny funding it. Reuters has not been able to establish who provides the funding for the organisation, but reported last week that Washington was considering an Israeli request to put in $500 million. GHF coordinates with the Israeli army for access, the foundation said in reply to Reuters questions, adding that it was looking to open more distribution points. It has paused then resumed deliveries several times after the shooting incidents, including on Monday. Last week, it urged the Israeli army to improve civilian safety beyond the perimeter of its operations. GHF said the U.N. was failing to deliver aid, pointing to a spate of recent lootings. Israel says the U.N.'s aid deliveries have previously been hijacked by Hamas to feed their own militants. Hamas has denied stealing aid and the U.N. denies its aid operations help Hamas. The U.N., which has handled previous aid deliveries into Gaza, says it has over 400 distribution points for aid in the territory. On Monday it described an increasingly anarchic situation of looting and has called on Israel to allow more of its trucks to move safely. SHOOTING STARTS Salama and four neighbours set out from Mawasi, in the Khan Younis area of the southern Gaza Strip, at 3 a.m. on Tuesday for the aid site, taking two hours to reach Rafah, which is several miles away near the Egyptian border. Shooting started early in their journey. Some fire was coming from the sea, he said, consistent with other accounts of the incidents. Israel's military controls the sea around Gaza. His small group decided to press on. In the dark, the way was uneven and he repeatedly fell, he said. "I saw people carrying wounded persons and heading back with them towards Khan Younis," he said. By the time they reached Alam Roundabout in Rafah, about a kilometre from the site, there was a vast crowd. There was more shooting and he saw bullets hitting nearby. "You must duck and stay on the ground," he said, describing casualties with wounds to the head, chest and legs. He saw bodies nearby, including a woman, along with "many" injured people, he said. Another aid seeker interviewed by Reuters, who also walked to Rafah on June 3 in the early morning, described repeated gunfire during the journey. At one point, he and everyone around him crawled for a stretch of several hundred meters, fearing being shot. He saw a body with a wound to the head about 100 meters from the aid site, he said. The Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah received a mass casualty influx of 184 patients on June 3, the majority of them injured by gunshots, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement, calling it the highest number of weapon-wounded patients the hospital had ever received in a single incident. There were 27 fatalities. "All responsive patients said they were trying to reach an assistance distribution site," the statement said. When Salama finally arrived at the aid point on June 3, there was nothing left. "Everyone was standing pulling cardboard boxes from the floor that were empty," he said. "Unfortunately I found nothing: a very, very, very big zero." Although the aid was gone, ever more people were arriving. "The flood of people pushes you to the front while I was trying to go back," he said. As he was pushed further towards where GHF guards were located, he saw them using pepper spray on the crowd, he said. GHF said it was not aware of the pepper spray incident but said its workers used non-lethal measures to protect civilians. "I started shouting at the top of my lungs, brothers I don't want anything, I just want to leave, I just want to leave the place," Salama said. "I left empty-handed... I went back home depressed, sad and angry and hungry too," he said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Palestinian death toll mounts with over 100 killed during Eid
Palestinian men and boys perform Eid al-Adha prayers in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled Listen to article Over a 100 Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours, including 21 since dawn today, and at least 393 injured in Israeli attacks across the enclave, according to Palestinian health sources. At least 21 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip since this morning, Al Jazeera reported. Israeli forces targeted buildings east of the Jabalia refugee camp, with reports indicating that several residential structures were destroyed. An Israeli helicopter also fired on homes east of Gaza City, leading to multiple casualties. Additional attacks were reported in northern Gaza, including near Jabalia and Beit Lahiya, with several civilians injured. In southern Gaza, a drone strike targeted tents in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, killing five Palestinians, including two girls. The al-Mawasi area had previously been designated a "safe zone" by Israeli authorities, but has now become a frequent target of airstrikes. Meanwhile, Israeli forces conducted several raids across the occupied West Bank, arresting Palestinians in towns such as Arura, Jalazone, Kafr Malek, Balata, and al-Khader. Read: At least 75 Palestinians killed in Gaza second day of Eidul Azha These operations have raised concerns among local and international observers about the ongoing security situation in the region. On Saturday, IDF killed at least 75 people and injured several others in multiple instances of violence across the enclave. At least 108 were reported deceased and 393 injured between Saturday and Sunday. Israel blockade of Gaza Roughly one in five Palestinians in Gaza is now experiencing starvation, as Israel's total blockade of the territory enters its third month. According to the latest findings from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), nearly 1.95 million people—accounting for 93 percent of Gaza's population—are suffering from severe food insecurity. The IPC warns that the ongoing restrictions could cause 'further mass displacement' both within Gaza and across its governorates, as essential resources required for survival continue to run out. Read more: Netanyahu admits arming criminal groups in Gaza Efforts to address the crisis have faltered. A U.S.-backed Israeli initiative known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was launched in May to manage aid delivery. However, its central distribution hub collapsed into disorder just hours after opening on May 27, and the situation has since worsened following fatal shootings near food aid sites. Israel stands accused of deliberately drawing Palestinians to these distribution points before opening fire. More than 100 people have reportedly been killed in such incidents over the past eight days. Medical services at risk of collapse Meanwhile, Gaza's Health Ministry Director Munir al-Bursh has warned that hospitals could become "graveyards" in 48 hours if no fuel is provided for power generators. Speaking to Al-Jazeera, Bursh underscored the gravity of the prevailing fuel shortages. The occupation forces' prevention of fuel entry is tantamount to cutting off the lifeline to hospitals, he said, adding that there is a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies. He called for the immediate access to entry for the World Health Organization's trucks parked in Arish, Egypt, near the Rafah border crossing. Israel's war on Gaza The total death toll from Israel's war on Gaza has risen to 54,880 killed and 126,227 injured since October 7, 2023, according to the enclave's Health Ministry. Israel has killed 4,603 Palestinians and injured 14,186 since breaking a ceasefire in March this year, it added. Israel's atrocities have displaced around 90% of Gaza's estimated 2 million residents, created a severe hunger crisis, and caused widespread destruction across the territory. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave
Straits Times
5 days ago
- Health
- Straits Times
Gaza doctors give their own blood to patients after scores gunned down seeking aid
A child looks on as Palestinians carry their belongings as they flee their homes after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 3, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from Israel, June 4, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen Gaza doctors give their own blood to patients after scores gunned down seeking aid GENEVA - Doctors in the Gaza Strip are donating their own blood to save their patients after scores of Palestinians were gunned down while trying to get food aid, the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Thursday. Around 100 MSF staff protested outside the UN headquarters in Geneva against an aid distribution system in Gaza run by an Israeli-backed private company, which has led to chaotic scenes of mass carnage. "People need the basics of also need it in dignity," MSF Switzerland's director general, Stephen Cornish, told Reuters at the protest. "If you're fearing for your life, running with packages being mowed down, this is just something that is completely beyond everything we've ever seen," he said. "These attacks have killed were left to bleed out on the ground." Cornish said staff at one of the hospitals where MSF operates had to give blood as most Palestinians are now too poorly nourished to donate. Israel allowed the private Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to begin food distribution in Gaza last week, after having completely shut the Gaza Strip to all supplies since the beginning of March. Gaza authorities say at least 102 Palestinians were killed and nearly 500 wounded trying to get aid from the food distribution sites in the first eight days. Eyewitnesses have said Israeli forces fired on crowds. The Israeli military said Hamas militants were to blame for opening fire, though it acknowledged that on Tuesday, when at least 27 people died, that its troops had fired at "suspects" who approached their positions. The United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution on Wednesday supported by all other Council members, which would have called for an "immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" in Gaza and unhindered access for aid. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
GMA Network
03-06-2025
- Health
- GMA Network
At least 27 Palestinians killed near Gaza aid site; UN demands investigation
A mourner looks on near the body of Reem Zidan, a Palestinian killed by Israeli fire near a distribution site in Rafah, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 3, 2025. REUTERS/ Hatem Khaled CAIRO/JERUSALEM — At least 27 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire near a food distribution site in southern Gaza on Tuesday, health officials said, in a third day running of chaos and bloodshed to blight the aid operation. The Israeli military said its forces had opened fire on a group of people they viewed as a threat after they left a designated access route near the distribution center in Rafah and approached their positions. It added it was still investigating what had happened. The deaths came hours after Israel said three of its soldiers had been killed in fighting in northern Gaza, as its forces pushed ahead with a months-long offensive against Hamas militants that has laid much of the enclave to waste. Reuters could not independently verify the reports in northern and southern Gaza. An International Committee of the Red Cross spokesperson said its field hospital in Rafah had received 184 casualties, adding that 19 of those were dead upon arrival, and eight died of their wounds shortly after. Video showed injured people, including at least one woman, being rushed to a medical center on carts drawn by donkeys. Health officials said at least 18 more Palestinians were killed in other military strikes in the territory on Tuesday. The United Nations human rights office in Geneva said on Tuesday the impediment of access to food relief for civilians in Gaza might constitute a war crime and described attacks on people trying to access food aid as "unconscionable." The head of the UN agency, Volker Turk, urged a prompt and impartial investigation into the killings. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer denied that civilians had been targeted. "The IDF is doing everything in its power to allow Gazans to get to the humanitarian aid. The IDF is not preventing the arrival of Gazans at humanitarian aid sites. Indeed, we are encouraging it," Mencer said. Pandemonium The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation launched its first distribution sites last week in an effort to alleviate widespread hunger amongst Gaza's 2.3 million population, most of whom have been forced to abandon their homes to flee fighting. The Foundation's operation, which bypasses traditional aid groups, has been fiercely criticised by the United Nations and established charities which say it does not follow humanitarian principles. The private group, which is endorsed by Israel, said it had distributed 21 truckloads of food early on Tuesday and stressed that the reported violence had not happened within its site. "This was an area well beyond our secure distribution site and control. We recognize the difficult nature of the situation and advise all civilians to remain in the safe corridor when traveling to our distribution sites." Palestinians who collected food boxes on Tuesday described scenes of pandemonium, with no-one overseeing the handover of supplies or checking IDs, as crowds jostled for provisions. "It is complete chaos and humiliation, and people have no choice but to keep coming because there is no food in Gaza," said one Palestinian, who declined to be named, adding he was lucky to have survived the shootings. Mass evacuations On Sunday, Palestinian and international officials said at least 31 people were killed and dozens more injured. On Monday, three Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli fire. The Israeli military has called reports of deaths during Sunday's distribution "fabrications" by Hamas. The military issued new evacuation orders for several districts of Khan Younis in southern Gaza late on Monday, telling residents to move west towards the Mawasi humanitarian area and warning that the army would act forcefully against militants in those areas. Palestinian and United Nations officials say there are no safe areas in Gaza. The territory's health ministry said the new evacuation orders could halt work at the Nasser Hospital, the largest, still-functioning medical facility in the south. Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 assault in which Hamas-led gunmen killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, by Israeli tallies. In the subsequent fighting, more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed, local health authorities say. Meanwhile, recent efforts to secure a ceasefire appear to have stalled. Israel has said it accepts a US-backed temporary truce to release hostages, while Hamas wants a permanent end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. — Reuters
CBS News
03-06-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Dozens reportedly killed near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation hub in 3rd consecutive day of violence
At least 27 Palestinians were fatally shot and 161 others wounded on Tuesday as they tried to reach a food distribution center in Gaza run by a controversial U.S.-backed group, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. It was the third day of deadly violence reported near a humanitarian hub run by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private organization accused by the United Nations of weaponizing aid. "We were shocked by the numbers of injuries. A horrific number," one ambulance driver said as the wounded were rushed to the Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. "All the injuries were directly to the head and chest. Many of them young people who went to get aid from the American foundation." Little information has been made public about GHF's operations. CBS News has been told by one source that it has employed at least 300 American contractors, all heavily armed, who have been given "as much ammunition as they can carry." Mourners stand near the bodies of Palestinians killed by what the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said was Israeli fire near an aid distribution site in Rafah, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 3, 2025. Hatem Khaled/REUTERS GHF said Tuesday that its operations continued without disruption at its four hubs in Gaza, though it acknowledged reports of violence, which it said took place, "well beyond our secure distribution site and operations area." In a statement, the Israeli military, which has taken control of an increasing portion of Gaza in recent weeks, said its troops had fired warning shots near the aid hub on Tuesday morning, and that it was aware of reports of casualties and was looking into them. "During the movement of the crowd along the designated routes toward the aid distribution site — approximately half a kilometer [0.3 miles] from the site — IDF troops identified several suspects moving toward them, deviating from the designated access routes," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. "The troops carried out warning fire, and after the suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near a few individual suspects who advanced toward the troops." The IDF said it "allows the American Civil Organization (GHF) to operate independently in order to enable the distribution of aid to the Gazan residents — and not to Hamas. IDF troops are not preventing the arrival of Gazan civilians to the humanitarian aid distribution sites." GHF said in a statement on Tuesday that it had distributed a total of more than 7 million meals since it started operations about a week ago, and that "aid distribution was conducted safely and without incident at our site today." "We understand that IDF is investigating whether a number of civilians were injured after moving beyond the designated safe corridor and into a closed military zone. This was an area well beyond our secure distribution site and operations area. We recognize the difficult nature of the situation and advise all civilians to remain in the safe corridor when traveling to our distribution sites." Palestinians wait to receive food aid from a hub set up in Gaza by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Among those killed this week was Reem Akhras, a mother of eight who was shot on her way to retrieve an aid parcel from a GHF hub, her family said. A CBS News team in Gaza attended her funeral Tuesday morning. "You went to get us food, Mom," Akhras' young daughter cried, sobbing over her body. "We will never forgive them, Mom. Not in this life or the next." Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, called the situation in Gaza "unconscionable" and demanded a "prompt and impartial investigation" into the deaths around the GHF hubs. "Palestinians have been presented the grimmest of choices: die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available through Israel's militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism," Türk said in a statement Tuesday. "This militarized system endangers lives and violates international standards on aid distribution, as the United Nations has repeatedly warned." "The wilful impediment of access to food and other life-sustaining relief supplies for civilians may constitute a war crime," Türk said. "The threat of starvation, together with 20 months of killing of civilians and destruction on a massive scale, repeated forced displacements, intolerable, dehumanizing 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." contributed to this report.
