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Washington Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
The for-profit companies behind Israeli-U.S. nonprofit Gaza aid plan
Inside the four hastily constructed warehouses in southern Gaza where food is handed out to desperate and starving Palestinians, it is relatively calm. Ration boxes stamped with the name and logo of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation are distributed by local volunteers in red vests, under the watchful gaze of beefy, armed American security contractors. It is just outside the warehouses where most of the trouble happens. Outside is where hundreds of civilians desperately crowding toward the distribution sites have been shot and killed — many of them allegedly by Israeli soldiers positioned nearby — and where at least 20 Palestinians died Wednesday in a stampede that the GHF says was initiated by gun-toting Hamas militants. Humanitarian aid has been one of the most controversial aspects of the war between Israel and Hamas, which is now approaching its second anniversary. In recent weeks, it has emerged as a final sticking point in negotiations over a ceasefire, placing the Israeli- and U.S.-backed GHF squarely in the crosshairs of the latest talks. Hamas is demanding a return to the U.N.-coordinated system of aid delivery that operated in Gaza for decades. Israel charges that Hamas has corrupted that system. It wants to maintain strict controls on assistance to Gazans, using the newly created GHF as the primary mechanism for food distribution. Critics, including the United Nations and most of the international humanitarian aid community, say the GHF is designed to further Israeli war aims by selectively and inadequately providing assistance, and by forcing Gazans to put their lives in danger for a box of provisions. In a statement released Monday, 21 European countries and others including Canada and Australia issued a joint statement saying that 'the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths' and condemning 'the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food.' 'The Israeli government's aid delivery model,' it said, 'is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity.' Like much of what happens inside Gaza, where Israel has banned international reporters except on brief tours led by the Israel Defense Forces, the origins and operations of the GHF remain obscure. Even more opaque is its funding. The foundation says it received about $100 million in start-up money from a government it has declined to identify. In late June, the Trump administration said it would supply $30 million to GHF operations. A major donation initially expected from the United Arab Emirates, according to internal planning documents seen by The Washington Post, has not materialized. The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has been deeply involved in the aid program, has publicly denied paying for it. But behind the foundation, which is a registered nonprofit, is a web of interconnected U.S. and Israeli individuals, and private U.S. companies — including some that hope to eventually make money on the relief effort, according to public and private documents reviewed by The Post and interviews with more than a dozen U.S. and Israeli government officials, business representatives and others involved, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the controversial initiative. Among those positioned to profit from GHF-linked contracts are a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, whose subsidiary Orbis Operations helped set up the foundation; and Safe Reach Solutions, the primary contractor overseeing GHF operations inside Gaza, which was created late last year for that purpose. SRS is owned by a Wyoming-based trust whose beneficiary is McNally Capital. Boston Consulting Group was also engaged in the effort to stand up the GHF, on what it has said was a pro bono basis. In March, it signed a two-month contract for more than $1 million with McNally to continue assisting SRS, with later extensions in May, an arrangement first reported by the Financial Times. BCG later withdrew from the project amid controversy, and a BCG spokeswoman, Nidhi Sinha, said no payment was accepted. The GHF has continued to deliver food to hungry Gazans: since late May, according to the foundation's count, more than 80 million meals in boxes that are calibrated to feed 5.5 people for 3.5 days. But dwindling resources have limited the number of trucks available to bring food into the enclave to about 70 to 80 per day, compared with early plans for more than 300, according to people familiar with GHF operations. Construction of additional distribution sites has also been indefinitely put off because of a lack of financing, ongoing Israeli military operations and the need to remove unexploded ordnance throughout Gaza. Money problems, and the unknown outcome of ceasefire negotiations, have also put on hold GHF plans for a more holistic — and controversial — proposal to relocate Gazans, summarized in a 19-page slide deck distributed at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv in January, several people said. In addition to the food distribution, the slides included plans for GHF construction of large-scale residential compounds inside and potentially outside Gaza where 'the population' could reside while the enclave was 'demilitarized and rebuilt.' The slide deck suggested that approach would allow the GHF to gain trust with Gazans — a currency that could be leveraged to 'facilitate President Trump's vision' for the battle-scarred enclave. The GHF concept was born as part of a larger effort by a group of Israeli military officials, Israeli businesspeople and foreign partners to support Israel's war effort and plan for Gaza's future. They began meeting shortly after the conflict began with Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack in southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and saw at least 250 hostages taken back to Gaza. As Israel responded to the attack, pounding Gaza with airstrikes and ground troops, it cut off the daily assistance that the 141-square-mile enclave had depended on for decades. Netanyahu's government — long distrustful of the U.N., which coordinated deliveries of food, fuel and medical supplies — justified the blockade by claiming that Hamas controlled and profited from the aid distribution. Under pressure from the Biden administration and humanitarian organizations that said depriving noncombatants of food was a potential war crime, Israel eventually allowed limited relief to resume. But the Israelis kept a tight hold on the spigot of assistance, generating friction between Netanyahu and the U.S. government, Israel's main source of weaponry and diplomatic backing. 'There was a need to get humanitarian aid into Gaza,' an Israeli familiar with the group's efforts said, but it needed to be done 'in a non-U.N. way.' In January 2024, the fledgling Gaza aid working group sought advice from Michael Vickers, a former Green Beret, CIA veteran and undersecretary of defense for intelligence during the Obama administration. Vickers was on the board of Orbis Operations, a consulting company based in McLean, Virginia, that was founded by former national security, military and intelligence specialists and which McNally purchased in 2021. Vickers told the planners, 'I'm not the guy, but I know the guy who can talk to you,' according to a person familiar with the approach. The man they wanted, Vickers said, was then-Orbis Vice President Philip Reilly, a former senior CIA operations officer with extensive experience in private security operations. Reilly quickly gained the trust of the IDF and the Gaza planning group, and spent much of 2024 immersing himself in the details of the Gaza conflict. Neither Vickers nor Reilly responded to queries about their involvement in the Gaza initiative. The Biden administration was well aware that the Israeli government and private-sector Israelis and Americans were working with the government on a plan to impose a new aid delivery system. While some in the administration were supportive, most were skeptical. But they did not directly interfere in the project. 'They were all talking — they being the Israeli government, the prime minister's office, the IDF — sort of throwing spaghetti against the wall to find some magic formula to take the responsibility off their shoulders' to care for Gaza's civilians, a former Biden official involved in Israel policy said. By the fall, the outline of a plan was laid out in a lengthy feasibility study compiled by Silat Technologies, an Orbis subsidiary, envisioning the creation of a nonprofit entity, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, 'to safely deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.' Planning documents distributed over the next several months said that the foundation's leadership would include respected humanitarian figures such as David Beasley, former head of the World Food Program, and Tony Blair, the former British prime minister who now runs an institute to advise change-making political leaders. Although the U.N. and major nongovernmental aid organizations already operating in Gaza were described as an integral part, their proposed role was unclear. An elaborate social media presence and public relations program would include outreach to select journalists to promote a positive image of the GHF. The foundation would hire a 'prime' contractor to organize and supervise construction of the sites and the aid operation inside Gaza. That firm would then subcontract a private security company — ideally U.S.-based — to be the boots and guns on the ground, guarding the aid as it was transported to distribution sites and protecting the sites themselves. The private companies lined up to service the planned foundation also included BCG, where both Reilly and Vickers were senior advisers. BCG, which later said its initial services were offered pro bono, projected $2 billion in initial operating costs for the GHF. On Nov. 21, a new limited liability company, Safe Reach Solutions, was registered in Jackson, Wyoming, and placed in a trust administered by a local company, Two Ocean Trust. While no information in the registration documents indicated what the new company did, who ran it or whom it employed, the beneficiary of the trust and any money it made, according to three people familiar with the arrangement, was McNally Capital, the private equity firm that owns Orbis. SRS, with Reilly as its chief executive, would later become the primary GHF contractor. Spokespeople for Two Ocean Trust and SRS declined to comment. In a statement to The Post, McNally Capital said it 'did not invest in SRS or actively manage the company,' but said it has an 'economic interest' in the firm. 'Given our long-established relationship with Phil Reilly … our strong belief in the importance of humanitarian aid, and the U.S. government's appeal for innovative solutions,' the statement said, McNally was 'pleased to have supported the establishment of SRS as an important step toward meeting the full scope of humanitarian need in Gaza.' Founded in 2008 by Ward McNally, of the Rand McNally publishing family, the firm specializes in the acquisition of aerospace, defense and technology companies. 'Obviously, McNally is a business. They're in the business of making money,' a person familiar with the financial aspects of the project said. But 'I think it's very ambiguous whether this ends up being profitable.' As the new year approached, progress toward the food aid program planning was interrupted by the prospect of a Gaza ceasefire and partial hostage release. Israel had agreed to move its troops out of portions of Gaza at least temporarily — allowing citizens to return to what remained of their homes in the largely destroyed northern portion of the enclave. But Israeli officials insisted on a vehicle checkpoint — run by non-IDF security — on the Netzarim Corridor, a dividing line between northern and southern Gaza, to ensure weapons were not carried back to areas the IDF said it had earlier cleared of Hamas militants. With nine days' notice, U.S. and Arab mediators turned to the newly created SRS to organize the checkpoint. Reilly subcontracted UG Solutions, a small security firm based in North Carolina, to staff the ground operation. Headed by former Green Beret Jameson Govoni, UG had previously worked in Ukraine and Haiti, among other hot spots, and could move quickly because it had few of the classified contracts with the United States or other governments that proved to be complications for bigger security companies. The ceasefire mediators — the United States and Qatar — administered payments to SRS, the prime contractor, according to people familiar with the operation. The ceasefire began Jan. 19, the day before Donald Trump's second-term inauguration. Although the truce lasted only until mid-March, when Israel launched another ground invasion of northern Gaza, the checkpoint was deemed a success, with no major incidents reported. The Netzarim operation came to be considered a test run for the food distribution operation, and SRS and UG were well positioned to take it over for GHF. On Feb. 2, the foundation was registered as a humanitarian nonprofit in Switzerland and Delaware. The Netanyahu government had every reason to believe that Trump would support the initiative. He vowed to quickly end the war and proposed that the United States 'take over' and 'own' Gaza, developing it as a high-end Mediterranean resort. Food distribution by the GHF, planning documents indicated, was just the first step in a larger redevelopment plan. When the ceasefire collapsed on March 18 and the IDF resumed ground operations and airstrikes, Israel again stopped all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. As the days and weeks ticked on, thousands of tons of food and goods piled up in warehouses outside its borders; WFP and other humanitarian actors began to tally reports of starvation inside. By early May, Israel was under mounting international pressure to end its aid blockade, and Trump was looking for progress on his promise to end the war as he prepared for a trip to the Persian Gulf. At a May 9 news conference in Tel Aviv, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee claimed the GHF as a Trump 'initiative.' U.S. representatives, including Aryeh Lightstone, an official who now works with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and formerly served as an aide to David Friedman when he was U.S. ambassador to Israel, courted U.N. and humanitarian partners to sign on to the plan. But opposition to the plan had grown. The United Nations and most aid partners refused, publicly denouncing the proposal as immoral and designed to further Israel's war plans against Hamas by 'militarizing' assistance to more than a million civilians corralled into ever-shrinking 'safe zones' demarcated by the IDF in southern Gaza. Neither Beasley nor Blair agreed to sign on. On May 22, newly named GHF executive director Jake Wood, a U.S. Marine veteran and co-founding board chair of Team Rubicon, a humanitarian organization that operated in disaster zones, released a letter he had sent to COGAT, the Israeli government coordinator for Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Its purpose, he wrote, was to confirm 'our understandings of agreements' — including an understanding that aid agencies would also be permitted to distribute food and medical assistance under 'existing' humanitarian mechanisms, outside the GHF program. 'GHF acknowledges that we do not possess the technical capacity or field infrastructure to manage such distributions independently,' he wrote, suggesting that the new aid mechanism should complement, but not replace, Gaza's existing aid sector. The night before the scheduled May 26 launch, Wood unsuccessfully sought to persuade the IDF to delay the start date by at least a week amid unanswered questions about funding, the participation of other agencies and the nearby positioning of Israeli troops. Wood resigned, and the next day, UG contractors accompanied the first convoys of GHF food into Gaza. Some of the plans, he said in a statement, were not consistent with 'humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.' David Burke, a fellow Marine veteran and former Team Rubicon colleague who had been named GHF chief operating officer, also resigned. Burke and Wood did not respond to inquiries from The Post. The GHF promoted John Acree, a former official with the U.S. Agency for International Development originally named head of the GHF operations inside Gaza, to interim executive director of the foundation. The opening of the sites brought new problems, with tens of thousands of despairing Gazans surging toward promised food. In the first week of GHF's operations, witnesses said that Israeli troops shot in the direction of Palestinians queuing outside the fenced distribution sites at least three times. UG contractors voiced concerns about the rules of engagement of nearby IDF troops and the safety of the Palestinians, according to several people familiar with the site operations. Meanwhile, paid Palestinian volunteers working at the GHF sites were receiving death threats from Hamas for participating in the Israeli-backed plan. Volunteers were afraid to travel back to their families at night, but the financial planners had not budgeted to provide them with housing, running water or other supplies to stay on-site, one person said. 'There were number crunchers at every stage, asking why do we have to do this stuff,' said another person familiar with the conversations between BCG financial consultants and SRS planners. Contractors purchased some provisions for the workers out of their own pockets, the person said. The limited number of trucks that passed through the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza each day to the sites after Israeli inspection meant that supplies ran out too early, leaving thousands empty-handed, angry and disbelieving there was no more food to be had. During the first week of June, BCG abruptly withdrew from the project. Amid what several people familiar with the situation said was internal criticism of perceived anti-Palestinian initiatives, the company said that members of its team had undertaken 'unauthorized' efforts on postwar planning. Two senior partners, it said in a statement, had been 'exited ... from the firm' and BCG 'has not and will not be paid for any of their work.' Despite ongoing problems and frequent reports of gunfire nearby, the GHF food program achieved a rhythm of sorts after a few weeks. News releases provided a daily accounting of tens of thousands of boxes of pasta, lentils, cooking oil and other commodities it distributed. But the killing of civilians in the vicinity of GHF sites has continued. Last month, eight Palestinian volunteers were shot and killed, allegedly by Hamas, aboard a bus returning them to GHF sites after visiting their families. Early this month, this IDF said 'terrorists' had tossed grenades into a distribution site, injuring two American contractors. Then came the deaths in Wednesday's stampede. 'We came to Gaza to help feed people, not to fight a narrative war,' GHF spokesman Chapin Fay told reporters hours after the stampede deaths, publicly accusing Hamas of causing the carnage by showing up at the site with guns. Aid organizations said it was the predicted result of Israeli militarization of what should be a neutral endeavor. On Sunday, at least 79 Palestinians were killed when food-seeking crowds mobbed a U.N. aid convoy in the northern part of the enclave and were fired on by Israeli troops, according to Gaza health authorities and witnesses. The IDF said it was 'aware of the claim' and that details of the event were 'being examined.' Acree, the GHF interim executive director, repeated appeals to the United Nations and other aid organizations to cooperate with the foundation. 'The demand for food is relentless, and so is our commitment,' he said in a statement. 'We're adjusting our operations in real time to keep people safe and informed, and we stand ready to partner with other organizations to scale up and deliver more meals to the people of Gaza.' GHF contracts expire at the end of August, unless a ceasefire comes first. If and when the fighting stops, it remains unclear how much aid will be allowed into Gaza and who will distribute it. Since late June, Trump has said repeatedly that negotiations were going well and that a truce was imminent.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Tel Aviv installation commemorates fallen Israeli soldiers
STORY: :: An installation in Tel Aviv commemorates Israeli soldiers who have died since October 7, 2023 :: Tel Aviv, Israel :: July 21, 2025 :: Marcy Tatelbaum, Mother of a fallen Israeli soldier "We came to this amazing initiative here today where there's a chair for every soldier that has fallen since October 7th. And our son is one of the soldiers who fell on June 28, 2024, in Gaza. He was a tank commander. And we're here basically to remember the sacrifice that all of these soldiers have given for this country, our beloved country, and what they have done so that we could continue living here and grow and thrive and hopefully continue as a people.״ People walking past the chairs lingered to look at the photos, located in Tel Aviv's hottest spot for summer tourists and sea and sport-loving Israelis. The installation was initiated by Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and the Foreign Ministry with the aim of "commemorating those who sacrificed their lives so the lives of so many other Israelis could go on," said a representative of the Diaspora Affairs Ministry. Solve the daily Crossword
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Two Israelis questioned for war crimes after waving flags at music festival
Two Israelis were questioned by police over alleged war crimes after waving a military flag at a music festival in Belgium. Prosecutors said the pair were Israeli soldiers and that they had asked police to locate and interview them after a complaint by the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), a Belgian pro-Palestinian organisation. The HRF said it identified the two among the crowds at Tomorrowland, a dance music festival in Antwerp, and that they were 'responsible for grave international crimes' in Gaza. It said they had been waving a flag of the Givati Brigade, an Israeli infantry unit that has seen extensive action during the war in Gaza. The unit has been 'extensively documented for its role in the systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza and for carrying out mass atrocities against the Palestinian population', the group claimed. 'The Givati flag, publicly displayed in the heart of Belgium, is not just a military symbol. It has become, for millions, a symbol of impunity, destruction and ethnic cleansing,' it said. Israel's foreign ministry confirmed that the pair, who it said were a civilian and a soldier, were detained on Sunday before being questioned and released shortly after. 'The foreign ministry and the IDF handled the matter and are in contact with the two,' it said. A clear show of force Belgium's prosecutor's office said it took action as courts in the country have extraterritorial jurisdiction over alleged war crimes. 'No further information will be given at this stage of the investigation,' the office said, without naming the two men. The HTF said the 'suspects were identified and arrested with a clear show of force at the Tomorrowland festival', describing the incident as a potential 'turning point in the global pursuit of accountability'. 'This development is a significant step forward,' HRF said, as it 'signals that Belgium has recognised its jurisdiction under international law and is treating the allegations with the seriousness they deserve. 'And to states watching around the world: universal jurisdiction is not just a principle – it is an obligation.' Filed 1,000 similar complaints The HRF has filed around 1,000 similar complaints in eight different countries since the war began, according to Israeli media. In response, the Israeli military told its soldiers to limit their social media use. In February 2025, Yuval Vagdani, an IDF soldier, had to be evacuated from Brazil after the HRF initiated legal proceedings against him, saying he was involved in the destruction of homes in the Gaza Strip. Also in February, Haroon Raza, a co-founder of the foundation, said: 'It's our responsibility, as far as we are concerned, to bring the cases.' It is then up to authorities in each country, or the International Criminal Court, to pursue them, he added. Eden Bar Tal, the director general of Israel's foreign ministry, called the actions a PR stunt. 'It's sponsored by this very low number of entities that have direct connections to terrorist organisations,' he said. Videos showed numerous Israeli flags Tomorrowland is the world's largest electronic music festival and attracts around 400,000 people a year. Videos posted to social media from the event showed numerous Israeli flags among the crowds. Hebrew media reported that Israelis were filmed engaging in conversations with Palestinians wearing keffiyehs. Israeli Ronen Levi, 34, is due to attend the festival's second weekend this week but the event has left a sour taste. 'Belgium at the best of times doesn't feel like a safe place for Jews and now it feels even worse. Music festivals are supposed to be full of love and this just taints things.' Belgium's King Philippe described the war in Gaza as a 'disgrace to humanity' in a speech on the eve of national day on Sunday. 'I add my voice to all those who denounce the serious humanitarian abuses in Gaza, where innocent people are dying of hunger and being killed by bombs while trapped in their enclaves,' the monarch said. 'The current situation has gone on for far too long. It is a disgrace to all of humanity. We support the call by the United Nations Secretary-General to immediately end this unbearable crisis.'
ABC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Two Israeli soldiers arrested at Belgium festival over Gaza war complaint
Two Israelis have been arrested and questioned in Belgium as part of an investigation into war crimes in Gaza. Two rights groups, the Hind Rajab Foundation and the Global Legal Action Network, said the pair were detained after the groups told Belgian authorities there was credible evidence they had committed war crimes in Gaza. "The action came in response to an urgent legal complaint filed by the Hind Rajab Foundation and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) earlier this week," the Hind Rajab Foundation said in a statement. "The suspects were identified and arrested with a clear show of force at the Tomorrowland festival in Boom. After being taken into custody, they were formally interrogated and released." Israel's Foreign Ministry confirmed two citizens on holiday in Belgium were briefly arrested in Belgium. It did not say whether they were arrested due to the war crimes allegations, but Belgium's public broadcaster said the prosecutor's office confirmed they were arrested because of the complaint. The rights groups said Belgian authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the pair. The Hind Rajab Foundation is a legal non-governmental organisation registered in Belgium, named after the five-year-old Gazan girl killed by Israeli forces in January 2024, in what UN experts said was a possible war crime. The group has been using the social media posts of travelling Israeli soldiers to track them and seek their arrests overseas using something called "universal jurisdiction", the legal principle that any state can try a person for a serious breach of international law, regardless of where the crime was committed. After the foundation began its campaign, the Israel Defense Forces subsequently released new restrictions to the media on identifying soldiers and told its members not to post about their actions in Gaza on social media. The Hind Rajab Foundation and other legal groups have sought the arrest of Israeli soldiers around the world — causing some holidaying Israelis to flee a number of countries — but the group said this was the first time authorities had actually detained anyone. "This development is a significant step forward," it said in a statement. "It signals that Belgium has recognized its jurisdiction under international law and is treating the allegations with the seriousness they deserve. "At a time when far too many governments remain silent, this action sends a clear message: credible evidence of international crimes must be met with legal response — not political indifference." The Israeli Government has sought to discredit the Hind Rajab Foundation, saying the group is "anti-Israel" and accusing its founder, Lebanese-born Belgian activist Dyab Abou Jahjah, of sympathising with the Shia militant group Hezbollah, a listed terrorist organisation in many countries, including Australia. Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has called the group: "a gang of Holocaust deniers, supporters of abducting Israeli civilians, and admirers of (former Hezbollah leader) the late (Hassan) Nasrallah." Pro-Israel politicians in Belgium sought to have the group de-registered but in May the country's justice minister said a state security evaluation had found no concrete evidence of links to Hezbollah or of any threat to the Belgian state.
Japan Times
7 days ago
- Japan Times
Crush at Gaza aid site kills at least 20; aid foundation blames armed agitators
At least 20 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday at an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in what the U.S.-backed group said was a crowd surge instigated by armed agitators. The GHF, which is supported by Israel, said 19 people were trampled and one fatally stabbed during the crush at one of its centers in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. "We have credible reason to believe that elements within the crowd — armed and affiliated with Hamas — deliberately fomented the unrest," GHF said in a statement. Hamas rejected the GHF allegation as "false and misleading," saying GHF guards and Israeli soldiers sprayed people with pepper gas and opened fire. GHF said Hamas' account was "blatantly false." "At no point was tear gas deployed, nor were shots fired into the crowd. Limited use of pepper spray was deployed, only to safeguard additional loss of life," GHF said in a written response via e-mail. "Today's incident is part of a larger pattern of Hamas trying to undermine and ultimately end GHF. It is no coincidence that this incident occurred during ceasefire negotiations, where Hamas continues to demand that GHF cease operations." Witnesses said guards at the site sprayed pepper gas at them after they had locked the gates to the center, trapping them between the gates and the outer wire-fence. "People kept gathering and pressuring each other; when people pushed each other ... those who couldn't stand fell under the people and were crushed," said eyewitness Mahmoud Fojo, 21, who was hurt in the stampede. A Palestinian who was seeking aid in Khan Younis receives medical attention at Nasser hospital in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday. | REUTERS "Some people started jumping over the netted fence and got wounded. We were injured, and God saved us. We were under the people, and we said the Shahada (death prayers). We thought we were dying, finished," he added. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on Hamas and eyewitness accounts. Palestinian health officials said 21 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. On Tuesday, the U.N. rights office in Geneva said it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks in the vicinity of aid sites and food convoys in Gaza — the majority of them close to GHF distribution points. Most of those deaths were caused by gunfire that locals have blamed on the Israeli military. The military has acknowledged that Palestinian civilians were harmed near aid distribution centers, saying that Israeli forces had been issued new instructions with "lessons learned." The GHF uses private U.S. security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a U.N.-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the accusation. The U.N. has called the GHF's model unsafe and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards — an allegation GHF has denied. Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs Network, accused the GHF on Wednesday of gross mismanagement. "People who flock in their thousands (to GHF sites) are hungry and exhausted, and they get squeezed into narrow places, amid shortages of aid and the absence of organization and discipline by the GHF," he said. The war in Gaza, triggered in October 2023 by a deadly Hamas attack on Israel, has displaced almost all of the territory's population and led to widespread hunger and privation. Earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli military said it had finished paving a new road in southern Gaza separating several towns east of Khan Younis from the rest of the territory in an effort to disrupt Hamas operations. Palestinians see the road, which extends Israeli control, as a way to put pressure on Hamas in ongoing ceasefire talks, which started on July 6 and are being brokered by Arab mediators Egypt and Qatar with the backing of the United States. Palestinian sources close to the negotiations said a breakthrough had not yet been reached on any of the main issues. Hamas said it rejected an Israeli demand to keep at least 40% of Gaza under its control as part of any deal. Hamas also demanded the dismantlement of the GHF and the reinstatement of a U.N.-led aid delivery mechanism. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war will end once Hamas is disarmed and removed from Gaza. Gaza local health authorities said Israeli military strikes have killed at least 87 people across the enclave in the past 24 hours. Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, by Israeli tallies.
