Chaos at Gaza food distribution center

[MIDDLE EAST] Israeli troops opened fire near crowds of starving Palestinians on Tuesday after a logistics group appointed by Israel lost control of a newly established food distribution centre in Gaza on just its second day of operations.

An 11-week total siege, compounded by an ongoing Israeli blockade, has left most of Gaza’s population in a state of extreme hunger. On Tuesday, hundreds of thousands crossed Israeli military lines to reach the new distribution site in Rafah.

But the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the organisation selected by Israel to manage aid delivery, was overwhelmed and unprepared for the surge. At one point, staff abandoned their positions.

“At one moment in the late afternoon, the volume of people at the SDS [secure distribution site] was such that the GHF team fell back to allow a small number of Palestinians in Gaza to take aid safely and dissipate,” the organisation said in a statement.

Conditions in Gaza have worsened dramatically amid continued conflict and a dire shortage of clean water, electricity, and medical supplies. The United Nations has repeatedly called for a humanitarian ceasefire to ensure safe aid delivery, but those appeals have largely gone unheeded.

According to the Associated Press, Israeli tank fire and gunshots were heard near the site, and a military helicopter released flares. At least three wounded Palestinians were evacuated from the area, one with a leg injury.

The Israeli military stated that “warning shots” were fired to regain control of the scene, but it remained unclear whether any civilians seeking aid were hurt. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged in a Tuesday night address that there had been “a momentary loss of control” during the food handout, but added, “Happily, we brought it back under control.”

Nonetheless, the use of force during humanitarian operations has sparked sharp criticism from international observers. Human rights organisations have condemned the Israeli military’s tactics as both hazardous and counterproductive. Israel has defended its approach, arguing that such measures are necessary for maintaining order.

Unverified social media footage appeared to show people queuing between wire fences before the barriers were breached and crowds rushed into an open field where boxes of aid awaited. While some managed to secure supplies containing staples like sugar, flour, pasta, and tahini, many others left empty-handed.

“There was no order, the people rushed to take, there was shooting, and we fled,” said Hosni Abu Amra, who had been among those waiting for food. “We fled without taking anything that would help us get through this hunger.”

Ahmed Abu Taha, who reported hearing gunfire and seeing military aircraft overhead, described the situation as “chaos” and said people were in a state of panic.

On Sunday, GHF’s founding director, Jake Wood, stepped down, stating it was impossible to distribute aid “while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.”

Wood’s resignation underscores the difficulties facing new aid groups operating in highly volatile conflict zones. The UN and established humanitarian organisations, with long experience in such environments, had already declined to work with GHF, citing concerns that partnering would compromise their core values and endanger both their staff and Gaza’s civilians.

These organisations also warned that an inexperienced group could not realistically manage the logistics of feeding over two million people in an active war zone. US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce dismissed the concerns, emphasizing that the urgent priority was ensuring aid reached Gaza, regardless of the deliverer. She accused Hamas of attempting to block GHF aid convoys from reaching distribution centres.

“They have attempted to stop the aid movement through Gaza to these distribution centres,” Bruce said. “They have failed, but they certainly tried. The bottom line is the real story here is that the aid is moving through, and, in that kind of environment, it’s not surprising that there might be a few issues involved.”

But Tuesday’s chaotic scenes appeared to validate the UN’s warnings.

The mass of people clamouring for food was “heartbreaking,” said UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, particularly given that the UN and its partners had “a detailed, principled, operationally sound plan” in place to distribute aid.

The small quantity of aid reaching Gaza is far from adequate, Dujarric said, reiterating the urgent need to significantly scale up humanitarian efforts to avert famine and meet the needs of the entire civilian population.

Calls for a ceasefire and the creation of safe corridors for aid delivery have grown louder from the international community. The European Union has urged all sides to uphold international humanitarian law and protect civilians.

Israel is currently attempting to replace existing aid organisations with alternatives such as the GHF. It has long alleged, without publicly providing evidence, that Hamas interferes with aid supply chains to divert resources for its own benefit.

GHF uses private security contractors and operates under the protection of Israeli forces. However, it has acknowledged that its model—requiring people to travel long distances and carry heavy parcels—excludes many of Gaza’s most vulnerable.

According to a security source cited by Haaretz, the Israeli military was unprepared for large-scale aid distribution and had planned to control the crowd using gunfire. “They treated it like a routine situation involving suspects entering a combat zone,” the source said. “But you can’t direct a population of that scale with gunfire if you want them to feel safe reaching the areas you’ve opened.”

The source added that the failure to implement basic crowd-control measures, such as fencing, indicated a lack of planning. GHF said it pulled staff back to avoid casualties, in line with internal protocol, and reported distributing 8,000 boxes of food on Tuesday—enough to feed 44,000 people for half a week by its estimates. This represents just 2% of Gaza’s population. The foundation said more aid would be delivered later in the week.

Images circulating online, though unverified, appeared to show meagre rations—mainly rice, pasta, flour, and canned goods—sourced from Israel. GHF has not disclosed its funding sources, though boxes bore the logos of three small humanitarian groups experienced in Gaza. None of those groups responded to questions regarding their involvement.

“Regardless of whether the GHF is operating or not, we know from decades of experience and the almost 600 days we have been responding to this catastrophe in Gaza that this shameful exercise in the militarisation of aid is not going to work,” said Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s policy lead for the occupied Palestinian territory.

“Even in the best of circumstances, no logistics company can feed 2.1 million people overnight. Humanitarianism isn’t just about distributing food—it’s about enabling people to survive.”

Since the collapse of a ceasefire in March, Israeli forces have taken control of much of Gaza, launching attacks that Gaza health officials say have killed nearly 4,000 people in recent weeks. The overall Palestinian death toll from Israeli operations in Gaza since October 7 now exceeds 54,000, the majority of them civilians. The war began after Hamas launched cross-border attacks on Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and taking around 250 hostages.