Thousands of Palestinians have overrun an aid distribution site in Gaza set up by a controversial US and Israeli-backed group Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s (GHF), a day after it began working there.
The group said that at one point its team fell back because the numbers seeking aid were so great. The Israeli military said troops nearby fired warning shots.
The GHF, which uses armed American security contractors, aims to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid in Gaza, where experts have warned of a looming famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade that was recently eased.
The UN said the videos from Rafah were “heartbreaking” and that it had a detailed plan ready to get enough aid to the “desperate population” of 2.1 million, says BBC.
The UN and many aid groups have refused to co-operate with GHF’s plans, which they say contradict humanitarian principles and appear to “weaponise aid”.
They have warned that the system will practically exclude those with mobility issues, force further displacement, expose thousands of people to harm, make aid conditional on political and military aims, and set an unacceptable precedent for aid delivery around the world.
Israel has said an alternative to the current aid system is needed to stop Hamas stealing aid, which the group denies doing.
The GHF said it had given out the equivalent of 462,000 meals through a partnership with local non-governmental organisations.
Tuesday afternoon saw a scene of chaos as people seized food parcels and other aid.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops had fired “warning shots in the area outside the compound”.
“Control over the situation was established, food distribution operations are expected to continue as planned, and the safety of IDF troops was not compromised,” it stated.
Gaza’s Hamas-run Government Media Office said Israel’s efforts to distribute aid had “failed miserably”. It also denied that Hamas had tried to stop civilians reaching the GHF’s sites.
The GHF sites are meant to be secured by American contractors, with Israeli troops patrolling the perimeters. To access them, Palestinians are expected to have to undergo identity checks and screening for involvement with Hamas.
UN and other aid agencies have insisted they will not co-operate with any scheme that fails to respect fundamental humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality.
Half a million people face starvation in the coming months, according to an assessment by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
At least 54,056 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 3,901 over the past 10 weeks, according to the territory’s Gaza Health Ministry.