A humanitarian relief effort in Gaza spiraled into disorder as thousands of Palestinians, pushed to the brink by severe hunger, overwhelmed a food distribution site managed by a US-funded organization. Israeli forces fired into the air in an attempt to restore order, while American personnel supervising the operation briefly pulled back for safety.
The region has endured nearly three months of severe restrictions on aid, leaving over two million residents in Gaza teetering on the edge of starvation. Last week marked the first instance of aid resuming, albeit in limited amounts.
Footage from the distribution hub in Tel al-Sultan, operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), captured scenes of chaos: crowds breaking down fences and scaling barricades meant to manage the line.
Palestinian health authorities reported that one individual was fatally shot and 48 others were injured during the disturbance. The deceased succumbed to serious wounds at the Red Cross field hospital in Rafah.
Later that day, GHF announced it had successfully opened a second site in Rafah, distributing eight truckloads of food without any major disruptions. The Tel al-Sultan location also resumed operations after receiving a new shipment of supplies.
“There’s no way to keep order here. People are starving,” said Wafiq Qdeih, who showed up Tuesday hoping to get food. “The Israeli soldiers fired into the air, the Americans and their staff pulled out, and we couldn’t get anything.”
Others echoed similar sentiments, noting the physical difficulty of reaching the center and the chaos once there. “It’s far away, and it took us a lot to get here. I’m exhausted,” said a man named Abu Ramzi. “There are just too many people. Security can’t manage this.”
A diplomatic source, speaking anonymously, said the mayhem “was entirely predictable.”
GHF admitted the situation spiraled out of control, stating it had temporarily stepped back to allow aid to be collected safely by a smaller group. “This aligns with our protocols aimed at preventing injuries,” a GHF representative explained.
According to a security source, American contractors on the ground did not discharge their weapons, and the plan was to resume aid delivery at the original site the following day. The Israeli military confirmed firing warning shots outside the compound but denied using aerial fire, saying the scene had since stabilized.
Amjad al-Shawa, who heads the Palestinian NGO Network, blamed the turmoil on Israel’s blockade. “This was an inevitable failure,” he said. “Starving people as a tactic violates every humanitarian standard, and distributing food like this was never going to work.”
The GHF said it had handed out around 8,000 boxes, equating to nearly half a million meals so far. The organization claims it aims to provide food to about 1.2 million people — 60% of Gaza’s population — by the end of the week.
Though GHF said its operations officially launched Monday, photos from the site showed only a few individuals receiving boxes amid a largely empty distribution yard.
The group said it was preparing three more locations to expand its reach — two in the south and one in the central area. Notably, all southern locations fall within zones recently subjected to mass evacuation orders, raising further questions about access and planning.
No centers have been set up in northern Gaza, drawing harsh criticism from humanitarian groups. The United Nations previously cautioned that this selective placement could reinforce what some officials see as Israel’s push to relocate Gaza’s population southward — a strategy publicly supported by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Wednesday marked 600 days since the conflict between Israel and Hamas reignited after the deadly October 7 attacks, with no signs of an imminent ceasefire despite mounting international condemnation, including from allies of Israel.
Earlier this week, an Israeli military official revealed plans for Israel to establish control over 75% of Gaza in the coming two months, a move that could confine over two million Palestinians to a fraction of the territory.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously stated that the population would be relocated entirely to the south.
The GHF’s method of aid delivery has been slammed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which warned that the model was “not viable, contrary to humanitarian principles, and dangerously insecure,” according to internal documents obtained by CNN.
At a press briefing Tuesday, an Israeli official said both GHF’s approach and the previous UN-coordinated efforts were functioning concurrently. COGAT, the Israeli agency overseeing coordination with Gaza, reported that 95 aid trucks entered the region that day.
UNRWA, the UN agency assisting Palestinian refugees, reiterated its readiness to distribute large-scale aid immediately once permitted. “We’re fully prepared,” the agency stated.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini condemned the scenes at the Tel al-Sultan site as a breakdown of dignity and order. “The images of people crushed against fences, desperate for food — they were horrifying, humiliating, and dangerous,” he said. “This kind of chaos wastes resources and distracts from the broader tragedy.”
Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN’s humanitarian coordination office, was equally critical. “This private aid scheme misses the point. What’s needed is full access through all crossings, safe conditions for aid workers, and fast-tracked approvals for the supplies we already have waiting just outside Gaza,” he said.
The backlash extended beyond the UN. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also denounced the aid setup, accusing it of politicizing humanitarian assistance. “We’ve been very clear — humanitarian aid is not something to be privatized or weaponized,” she said Wednesday. “Bypassing the UN undermines the principles that guide emergency relief.”
While Israel and the US declined to publicly name the groups involved in the aid effort, photos from GHF’s operations showed boxes labeled “Rahma Worldwide,” a Michigan-based charity that describes its mission as delivering aid to the world’s most vulnerable populations.
{Matzav.com}