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Al-Ahram Weekly
4 days ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
UPDATED: Israeli gunfire kills at least 30 Palestinians near US-Israeli aid hub in Gaza - War on Gaza
Israeli gunfire killed at least 30 Palestinians and wounded scores on Sunday near a US-Israeli-backed aid distribution site east of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian health officials and witnesses said. Thousands of people headed toward the distribution site hours before dawn, congregating at the Flag Roundabout, about a kilometre (1,000 yards) away, as they waited for the site to open, witnesses told AP. They said Israeli forces ordered people to disperse and come back later, before opening fire. Officials at the field hospital confirmed that at least 30 people were killed and another 150 people were wounded. In an earlier toll, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that at least 21 Palestinians were killed and more than 175 others were wounded due to gunfire from Israeli vehicles towards thousands of citizens approaching the US-Israeli aid site west of Rafah. He said the casualties were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. 'There was fire from all directions, from naval warships, from tanks and drones,' said Amr Abu Teiba, who was in the crowd. He said he saw at least 10 bodies with gunshot wounds and several other wounded people, including women. People used carts to ferry the dead and wounded to the field hospital. 'The scene was horrible," he told AP. Ibrahim Abu Saoud, another eyewitness, provided a nearly identical account. He said the military fired around 300 metres (yards) away. Abu Saoud said he saw many people with gunshot wounds, including a young man who he said had died at the scene. 'We weren't able to help him,' he said. Mohammed Abu Teaima, 33, said he saw Israeli forces open fire and kill his cousin and another woman as they were heading toward the distribution site. He said his cousin was shot in his chest and died at the scene. Many others were wounded, including his brother-in-law, he added. 'They opened heavy fire directly toward us,' he said as he was waiting outside the Red Cross field hospital for word on his wounded relative. In a statement on Sunday, Hamas accused Israeli forces operating in Rafah of committing "a new massacre against hungry civilians who had gathered at the so-called 'humanitarian aid' distribution sites", calling them "mass death traps to lure the innocent hungry, not humanitarian relief points." Hamas held "the Zionist occupation, along with the American administration, fully responsible for the massacres committed at the sites of the occupation's aid distribution mechanism, and for using starvation as a weapon of war against our people." It called on the United Nations and its institutions, foremost among them the Security Council, to "take urgent and binding decisions that compel the occupation to stop this bloody mechanism, to immediately open the Gaza crossings, and to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid through recognized UN institutions." The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's distribution of aid has been marred by chaos, as Israeli troops fired on crowds near the delivery sites. Before Sunday, at least six people had been killed and more than 50 wounded, according to local health officials. The foundation said in a statement that it distributed 16 truckloads of aid early Sunday 'without incident' and dismissed what it claimed as false reporting about deaths, mass injuries, and chaos. Israel and the United States claim the new system is aimed at preventing Hamas from siphoning off assistance. Israel has not provided any evidence of systematic diversion, and the UN denies it has occurred. UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to work with the new system, saying it violates humanitarian principles because it allows Israel to control who receives aid and forces people to relocate to distribution sites, risking yet more mass displacement in the territory. The UN system has struggled to bring in aid after Israel slightly eased its total blockade of the territory last month. Those groups say Israeli restrictions, the breakdown of law and order, and widespread looting make it extremely difficult to deliver aid to Gaza's roughly two million Palestinians. Experts have warned that the territory is at risk of famine if more aid is not brought in. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
3 killed, 48 wounded as Israel opens fire on starving Gazans clamoring for aid in Rafah - War on Gaza
At least three Palestinians were killed and 48 others wounded in Rafah in southern Gaza after Israeli forces opened fire on starving crowds who rushed to an aid hub set up by an Israeli-US-backed foundation, officials in Gaza said Wednesday. Seven people also went missing in the ensuing stampede, according to the Gaza Government Media Office. Thousands of Palestinians clambered over fences and pushed through packed crowds to reach life-saving supplies brought by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a new, controversial US-Israeli-backed group tasked with the delivery of aid to Palestinians in the besieged strip. Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office for the Palestinian territories, had earlier confirmed to reporters in Geneva that 47 people were wounded, mostly by gunfire. "What happened in Rafah is a true massacre and a full-fledged war crime, committed in cold blood against civilians exhausted by the ongoing siege and starvation that has lasted for more than 90 days since the closure of the crossings, and nearly 20 months since the genocide and the complete interruption of food and medicine to the Strip," the Gaza Government Media Office said in a statement. The office also denounced the Israeli-run aid distribution project in the so-called 'buffer zones' in Gaza as a total failure. "What is happening is clear evidence of the occupation's failure to manage the humanitarian situation it deliberately created," the office stated. Displaced Palestinians receive food packages from a US-backed foundation pledging to distribute humanitarian aid in western Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 27, 2025. AFP Distraction from atrocities Following the chaotic scenes and the deadly shooting in Rafah, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) slammed the new US-Israeli-backed aid distribution model in Gaza. "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," Philippe Lazzarini said in Japan. "The humanitarian community in Gaza, including UNRWA, is ready. We have the experience and expertise to reach people in need," he added. "The clock is ticking towards famine, so humanitarian (organisations) must be allowed to do its life-saving work now," Lazzarini stated. "We have seen yesterday the shocking images of hungry people pushing against fences, desperate for food. It was chaotic, undignified and unsafe," he said. On Wednesday, Lazzarini affirmed that Israel's model of aid distribution does not align with the core humanitarian principle. "It will deprive a large part of Gaza, the highly vulnerable people, of desperately needed assistance," he expressed. The distribution hub outside Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah was opened on Tuesday by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which Israel has slated to take over aid operations. The UN and other humanitarian groups refused to participate in the GHF system, saying it violates humanitarian principles. They warned that it can be used by Israel to forcibly displace the population by requiring them to move near the few distribution hubs or else face starvation, a violation of international law. Since the start of the war in Gaza, the UN and other aid groups have conducted massive operations distributing food, medicine, and other supplies to wherever Palestinians are located. Although Israel said GHF will replace that network, the past week has allowed a trickle of aid to enter Gaza for the UN to distribute. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
The Journal
28-05-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Around 47 people injured during chaos at US-backed aid hub in Gaza, mostly by Israeli gunfire
AROUND FORTY-SEVEN PEOPLE were injured, mostly by Israeli gunfire, as chaos erupted at an aid distribution hub run by a US-Israeli-backed organisation in Gaza yesterday, a UN official has said. The food distribution was organised by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has faced intense criticism from UN agencies and NGOs that already operate in the besieged Palestinian territory. Yesterday, the organisation's new hub near the southern city of Rafah was overrun by hungry people desperate for food. The crowd broke through fences and an Associated Press journalist heard Israeli tank and gun fire, and saw a military helicopter firing flares. 'There are about 47 people who have been injured', said Ajith Sunghay, the head of UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories, adding that 'most of those injured are due to gunshots', and that 'it was shooting from the IDF'. Sunghay stressed that his office was still assessing and gathering information on the full picture of events. 'The numbers could go up. We are trying to confirm what has happened to them,' in terms of how seriously people were injured, Sunghay added. The Israeli military said it had fired 'warning shots'. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged a 'loss of control momentarily' at the centre, but a senior military official said the distribution was nonetheless 'a success'. Palestinians show to the camera food and humanitarian aid packages they received yesterday Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo 'Distraction from atrocities' The new aid distribution model is part of an Israeli plan to take over aid delivery in Gaza, which critics have said only allows Israel to further weaponise food supply. Its former executive director, Jake Wood, announced his resignation on Sunday, saying it was impossible to do his job in line with humanitarian principles. Advertisement The New York Times, citing unnamed Israeli officials, reported last week that a new US-backed aid plan for Gaza had been 'conceived and largely developed by Israelis as a way to undermine Hamas'. The UN has ruled out involvement in the US-Israeli plan, with spokesman Farhan Haq saying that it 'does not accord with our basic principles, including those of impartiality, neutrality, independence'. A group of NGOs, including ActionAid, this month said: 'Aid that is used to mask ongoing violence is not aid, it is in fact humanitarian cover for a military strategy of control and dispossession.' Today, the head of UNRWA – the UN's main aid agency in Palestine – said: 'We have seen yesterday the shocking images of hungry people pushing against fences, desperate for food. It was chaotic, undignified and unsafe.' '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,' the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees said. 'Meanwhile, the clock is ticking towards famine, so humanitarian (work) must be allowed to do its life-saving work now,' Philippe Lazzarini said. Strikes continue Gaza rescuers have said sixteen people were killed in Israeli strikes across the territory. 'Sixteen people have been killed as a result of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since dawn', civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP. Among them, nine belonged to the family of photojournalist Osama al-Arbeed and were killed in a strike on their home in Gaza's north at 2am, Bassal said. He added that Arbeed was injured, noting that he is a videographer and editor at a local film production organisation. Another six members of the same family were killed in central Gaza in a strike that left 15 people wounded, 'including children'. One other person, a civilian per Bassal, was killed near the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis. The health ministry in Gaza said on yesterday that at least 3,822 people had been killed in the territory since Israel broke a ceasefire on 18 March, taking the war's overall death toll to 53,977, mostly civilians. With reporting from AFP and Press Association Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
