Latest news with #aid distribution
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Crush at U.S.-backed Gaza aid site kills at least 20
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 centres 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. There has been no immediate comment from Hamas. Palestinian heath officials told Reuters 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 UN 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. Former DOGE official rushed US$30-million grant to Trump-backed Gaza aid group despite objections 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 centres, 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, saying its lack of crowd control and failure to uphold humanitarian principles had led to chaos and death among desperate civilians. '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 told Reuters. The war in Gaza, triggered in October 2023 by a deadly Hamas attack on Israel, has devastated large swathes of the coastal enclave, displaced almost all of the territory's population and led to widespread hunger and privation. If there's a ceasefire in Gaza, my wife wants to rest and go to the beach; my sons want to leave 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 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 under discussion. Hamas said Israel wanted to keep at least 40 per cent of the Gaza Strip under its control as part of any deal, which the group rejected. Hamas has also demanded the dismantlement of the GHF and the reinstatement of a U.N.-led aid delivery mechanism. Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said the road showed Israel was not serious about reaching a ceasefire deal. 'It confirms the occupation's long-term intentions and plans to remain inside the Strip, not to withdraw, and not to end the war. This contradicts everything it claims at the negotiating table or communicates to mediators,' Naim said in a post on his Facebook page. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war will end once Hamas is disarmed and removed from Gaza. Israeli strike kills children near Gaza clinic with no immediate truce in sight Gaza local health authorities said Israeli military strikes have killed at least 17 people across the enclave on Wednesday. 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 October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. An estimated 50 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including 28 hostages who have been declared dead and whose bodies are being withheld.
Japan Times
2 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.
Sky News
2 days ago
- Health
- Sky News
Deadly crush at Gaza aid site after new system implemented
Twenty one people have been killed following a crush at an aid distribution site in Gaza, according to local health officials. Footage shows young men being rushed to the nearby Nasser hospital in the immediate aftermath of the incident on Wednesday morning. At least 17 of the victims died from suffocation, according to one of the hospital's doctors, Dr Muhammad Saqr. The crush is the latest in a string of incidents that have plagued the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israel- and US-backed organisation tasked with delivering aid in Gaza. It comes one day after GHF implemented a new system at the site whereby red and green flags are used to tell Palestinians whether the aid centre is open, rather than posts on social media. Analysis by Sky News shows that GHF stopped announcing the timings of aid site openings more than a week before the new system was put in place. Of the 13 aid distributions since 6 July, only one was announced by GHF. The flag system was implemented following widespread criticism of GHF's protocols after numerous reports of fatal mass shootings near its aid sites. The footage below was taken on Tuesday at the site where the crush occurred, known as Secure Distribution Site 3 (SDS3). It shows a red flag above the site following an aid distribution. "The new system doesn't tell you when to go," says Ahmed Dhair, who was present at the crush this morning. "To see the flag, you have to go very, very close to the centre." Another person says that everyone goes early to the aid centre. "If they follow the flags, they will not have time to reach the centre." Sky News spoke to five Palestinians who were present at the stampede. Their accounts suggest that the crush was the result of systemic failures of communication and crowd control by GHF. Decision to approach Father-of-four Ahmed, 36, told Sky News that "thousands" of people had been waiting nearby for the site, SDS3, to open. Three eyewitnesses, including Ahmed, said that the crowd began to approach the aid site at around 6am after seeing the withdrawal of IDF vehicles. Ahmed says this has become standard practice since GHF stopped announcing opening times in advance. "This is what usually happens: we head to the site, get shot at for a while, then sleep on the ground so we don't get hit," he says. "When the [military] vehicles withdraw, we run very quickly until we get aid." Alaa, aged 39, says that people ran towards the aid centre only to find that it was still closed. Outside the centre, he says, was a 10-metre wide passageway enclosed by barbed wire on either side. Footage from the site, taken on Tuesday, shows this area and the barbed wire fencing around it. "It was a small corridor for the number of people," Alaa says. All five eyewitnesses who spoke to Sky News said that GHF employees then attempted to disperse the crowd using gunfire and either gas or pepper spray - resulting in a stampede. "People began to push until [the Americans] opened the gates," says Alaa. "Children and some young people fell - and here was the disaster, as people trampled on them due to the pressure of the crowd." A GHF spokesperson denied that tear gas was deployed or that shots were fired into the crowd. "Limited use of pepper spray was deployed, only to safeguard additional loss of life," they said. Why did people go to the aid centre? GHF had not announced any site openings for Wednesday, raising questions over why so many people attempted to access SDS3 this morning. GHF blamed false reports of site openings, which it said were "fuelling confusion, driving crowds to closed sites, and inciting disorder". But witnesses said they attended because GHF has repeatedly failed to announce site openings in advance. All six openings at SDS3 since 6 July have had no prior announcement. In one case, the site opened after GHF had announced that it would remain closed. "If the opening time of the aid point was posted on the official page, what happened today would not have happened," said one person on the GHF's official WhatsApp channel. Ahmed says that the GHF's social media announcements have "no credibility". "Most of the time they say it is closed and then it is opened," he says. "They say they will open the centre at 10am, and then we are surprised that they opened it at 9am." Another person who was present at the crush said he had turned up because the site had opened the previous day without any prior announcement. "Please can you contact any of the security personnel and inform me of the opening time of the aid site before it opens, so that I can bring flour to my family?" one Palestinian asked Sky News. "We are going through famine and have been without food for three days now." Crush will add to criticism of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation Lisa Holland, Sky Correspondent in Jerusalem The United Nations has already condemned the aid centres run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as 'death traps' – and that was before the latest loss of life in which 21 people died seemingly mostly from suffocation. It's the first and only time we know of people dying in this way waiting to get food. Although the Gaza Health Ministry and the GHF dispute exactly what happened. But how much longer can this Israeli and American backed way to supply aid continue when people are dying on a near daily basis? However it happened Gaza's over-crowded hospitals are once again overwhelmed. And there are serious questions to answer about the organisation of a system which is supposed to be providing humanitarian aid to desperately hungry people - but instead is a place where there is so much loss of life. It leaves people with an unbearable choice between risking their lives to get supplies or going hungry. Chaos of the system A Palestinian former employee of GHF told Sky News that he had quit the organisation last month because of its failure to improve its systems. "The reason I left the organisation is because they did not take into account the suggestion of doing pre-registration like other organisations so that there is a fair and honest system for the crowds," he says. "It should be done by ID card," says Ahmed. "It is not fair for a person to be coming every day, selling the food and keep stealing again. I went almost 20 times and not once did I get a box because I can't run." A GHF spokesperson said: "Today's incident is part of a larger pattern of Hamas trying to undermine and ultimately end GHF." In a written statement, the Hamas-run Government Media Office denied the allegations, saying that GHF "vainly seeks to evade responsibility for one of the most heinous organised massacres committed against the starving in Gaza since the start of the genocide". Rising number of GHF casualties A total of 674 people have been killed while trying to collect food from GHF sites, according to the UN. These numbers do not include the latest casualties from Wednesday's incident. Sky News analysis has found that deaths across the Gaza Strip as a whole increase significantly on days when more GHF sites are open. "We have no more beds to put patients on - we're putting patients on the ground," says Dr Muhammad Saqr at Nasser hospital. "We can no longer deal with any more casualties coming from GHF or other centres." 0:14
CNA
2 days ago
- CNA
Crush at Gaza aid site kills at least 20, US-backed group blames armed agitators
JERUSALEM: At least 20 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday (Jul 16) at an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in what the US-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 centres 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 to Reuters 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 told Reuters that guards at the site sprayed pepper gas at them after they had locked the gates to the centre, 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. "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 told Reuters that 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 UN 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 centres, saying that Israeli forces had been issued new instructions with "lessons learned". The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a UN-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the accusation. The UN 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 organisation and discipline by the GHF," he told Reuters. 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. ISRAELI ARMY ROAD 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 Jul 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 per cent of Gaza under its control as part of any deal. Hamas also demanded the dismantlement of the GHF and the reinstatement of a UN-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.
Khaleej Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Crush at Gaza aid site kills at least 20, GHF 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 US-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 centres 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 to Reuters 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 told Reuters that guards at the site sprayed pepper gas at them after they had locked the gates to the centre, trapping them between the gates and the outer wire-fence. 'People kept gathering and pressuring each other; when people pushed each who couldn't stand fell under the people and were crushed," said eyewitness Mahmoud Fojo, 21, who was hurt in the stampede. "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 told Reuters that 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 UN 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 centres, saying that Israeli forces had been issued new instructions with "lessons learned". The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a UN-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the accusation. The UN 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 organisation and discipline by the GHF," he told Reuters. 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. Israeli army road 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 per cent of Gaza under its control as part of any deal. Hamas also demanded the dismantlement of the GHF and the reinstatement of a UN-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 October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, by Israeli tallies.
