The Al-Quds News Agency reported Saturday that six people were killed by Israeli gunfire, and several others wounded, as they waited for aid distribution in the al-Alam area of Rafah city.
Israel has regularly attacked starving aid seekers since the GHF (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – a US/Israeli private company) began to operate on May 27, causing hundreds of casualties.
The Gaza Government Media Office has published a breakdown of the casualty numbers near aid distribution points since the GHF opened its doors:
- Tuesday, May 27: 3 killed, 46 wounded, 7 missing in Rafah
- Wednesday, May 28: 10 killed, 62 wounded in Rafah
- Sunday, June 1: 35 killed, 200 wounded in Rafah; 1 killed and 32 wounded, 2 missing at the Gaza Valley Bridge
- Monday, June 2: 26 killed, 92 wounded in Rafah
- Tuesday, June 3: 27 killed, 90 wounded in Rafah
- Friday, June 6: 8 killed, 61 wounded in Rafah
- Saturday, June 7: 6 killed in Rafah
- Over 100 starving aid seekers waiting for food aid near GHF distribution centres have been killed by Israeli forces since the organisation started operating in the enclave, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Drone footage, eyewitness videos, and testimonies from medical teams in Rafah all confirmed that Israeli forces opened fire directly and intensively on civilians, with many of the fatalities receiving gunshot wounds to their head or chest.
The Israeli military has admitted it shot at aid seekers on Tuesday, but claimed that they opened fire when “suspects” deviated from a stipulated route as a crowd of Palestinians was making its way to the GHF distribution site in Gaza.
On March 2, Israel announced the closure of Gaza’s main crossings, cutting off food, medical and humanitarian supplies, worsening a humanitarian crisis for 2.3 million Palestinians, according to reports by human rights organizations who have accused it of using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinians.
An Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report last month warned that almost a quarter of the civilian population would face catastrophic levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase Five) in the coming months.
After more than 80 days of total blockade, starvation, and growing international outrage, limited aid has allegedly been distributed since last week by the GHF, a scandal-plagued organization backed by the US and Israel, created to bypass the UN’s established aid delivery infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
Most humanitarian organizations, including the UN, have distanced themselves from GHF, arguing that the group violates humanitarian principles by restricting aid to south and central Gaza, requiring Palestinians to walk long distances to collect aid, and only providing limited aid, among other critiques.
The BBC tried to locate the company’s headquarters in Delaware (a state known as a tax haven for shell companies in the US), but found an empty office:
The UN confirmed that Israel is still blocking food from reaching starving Palestinians with only a few trucks of aid having reached Gaza.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned that “weaponizing aid in this manner may constitute crimes against humanity.”
“Today’s events have shown once again that this new system of aid delivery is dehumanising, dangerous and severely ineffective,” Claire Manera, MSF’s emergency coordinator, said in a statement on Sunday.
“It has resulted in deaths and injuries of civilians that could have been prevented. Humanitarian aid must be provided only by humanitarian organisations who have the competence and determination to do it safely and effectively,” she added.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also demanded an independent inquiry into the killings and for “perpetrators to be held accountable”.
The United Kingdom on Wednesday called for an “immediate and independent investigation” into the deadly incidents. UK Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer said the deaths were “deeply disturbing”, and called Israel’s new aid delivery measures “inhumane”.
Moreover, two senior officials of the foundation resigned days before the start of its operations. Jake Wood, who resigned as executive director, said in a statement that the group’s plans could not be consistent with the “humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.” The chief operating officer, David Burke, also resigned, according to The Washington Post.
On May 30, the Boston Consulting Group, which had been part of the planning and implementation of the foundation, withdrew its team and terminated its association with GHF.
Former UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness criticized the Israeli-US aid distribution mechanism, saying it has turned Gaza into a “human abattoir.”
“Hundreds of civilians are herded like animals into fenced-off pens and are slaughtered like cattle in the process,” Gunness said.
Palestinians have complained about the rush to secure packages inside the distribution centres and the failure of the guards to maintain order. The instructions given to Palestinians are also confusing and contradictory.
Photos and videos circulated on social media at one of GHF’s distribution sites near the so-called “Morag Corridor” in Rafah showed large crowds lining up in front of metal fences topped with surveillance cameras.
Witnesses described a slow and tightly controlled entry process, with people funneled through narrow fenced corridors that resembled cattle chutes. Once inside the distribution area, people were subjected to ID checks and eye scans to determine who was permitted to receive aid.
Video from May 29th shows a chaotic scene of Israeli military firing stun grenades at a crowd trying to queue for food boxes:
