CNN
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A new programme for desperately getting food in the hands of the hungry Palestinians of Gaza is just a few days ago, but it is already plagued by confusion and tragedy.
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in the past few days on their way to get help from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The group, backed by Israel and the US, aims to replace an unpublished system of distributing aid to Gaza to deal with the hunger crisis caused by Israel’s months of lockdown.
Over the past week, tens of thousands of Palestinians hope to converge on a GHF-operated distribution point and grab one of the limited number of packages before the speed runs out.
For the past three days, Palestinian authorities and witnesses have accused Israeli troops of shooting dozens of civilians who died at one of Rafa’s aid sites.
On Monday and Tuesday, Israeli troops fired “warning shots” towards what they called “subjects” approaching military positions, saying the military was investigating reports of casualties. During the first deadly shooting on Sunday, the military said it did not fire “near or inside” the distribution site, even if military sources admitted that Israeli forces fired at an individual about a kilometre from the site.
As international condemnation grows, there is something to know about Gaza’s aid and the humanitarian crisis.
Israel suspended all humanitarian aid in Gaza in early March, and government officials said it was to force Hamas to accept new ceasefire conditions and release hostages during the terrorist attacks by extremist groups against Israel on October 7, 2023.
The ban means supplies have not been in the territory for 11 weeks, bringing 2.1 million people in Gaza deep into the hunger crisis. In late April, one in five people were facing starvation, and the entire Gaza Strip warned that it was approaching starvation.
Facing rising international pressure, Israel eased the lockdown two weeks ago, allowing small amounts of aid into Gaza, distributing it through the UN channel and the GHF. However, according to Palestinian officials and international aid groups, a drop of aid is not close enough to meet the needs of the population.
Confusion broke out as thousands of Palestinians rushed to receive food supplies last Tuesday, with Israeli forces firing warning shots into the air and US contractors temporarily withdrawing, on the first day of GHF births in southern Gaza.
However, Gaza’s hunger crisis has long been ahead of the total Israeli lockdown. Since the Hamas attack, Israel has strictly limited the amount of aid that can enter the strip. And even before October 2023, Israel and Egypt had imposed a partial lockdown on Gaza. This meant that 63% of the population was food insecurity, according to the United Nations.
The GHF is a private nonprofit created by Israel and the United States to take over the provision of aid in Gaza, and will take over the provision of aid in Gaza following accusations that Hamas had stolen some of the humanitarian aid destined to civilians. The GHF relies on civilian military contractors for security and aims to replace Gaza’s traditional aid delivery methods employed by humanitarian organisations.
On Tuesday, the organization said it was continuing to “away the full shoot” as it claims it had delivered millions of meals to Palestinians. “In a complex and volatile operating environment like Gaza, the delivery of such safe, direct and large-scale aid is unprecedented,” GHF said in a statement.
The group is facing internal confusion. Executive Director Jake Wood confirmed that after GHF left the day before it launched its business in Gaza and further hit, Boston Consulting Group cancelled its contract with GHF on Tuesday.
The foundation has set up four “safe distribution sites” in southern Gaza and central Gaza with the aim of feeding about 1.2 million, an estimated 2.1 million people. This pales in comparison to the UN system, which relies on around 400 aid distribution points scattered over Gaza.
The Foundation coordinates with the Israeli military to specify specific routes for travelling the Palestinians. Many have to come a long way through the devastated strips to get food.
However, it is unclear how they recognize these detailed instructions and how access to any of the hubs designated on SDS-01 will approach the location of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).
Over the past three nights, the Palestinians appeared to have come too close to these positions, and the IDF said they fired fire at people who left the designated route on Tuesday.
The UN had warned that Israeli military involvement in securing areas around the site could block participation or lead to beneficiaries facing retaliation.
How did the distribution of aid change and why?
Before the GHF arrived in Gaza, the UN Relief and Labor Bureau for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) were the main distributors of enclave aid. Additionally, UNWRA played a leading role in the delivery of education and health services.
However, Israel has long had controversial relations with UNRWA and the United Nations as a whole. The relationship burst completely in the aftermath of the attack on October 7th.
Israeli Parliament has since UNRWA banned activities within the country, making non-led humanitarian efforts extremely difficult.
Israel and the United States had accused Hamas of stealing aid distributed by the United Nations. Hamas has rejected these claims, and humanitarian groups say most food aid reaches civilians.
The UN has declined to participate in the new Gaza Aid Initiative, stating that the GHF model violates several basic humanitarian principles. It warned that finding initial distribution points only in southern Gaza and central Gaza could be perceived as encouraging the publicly stated goal of depopulating northern Gaza.
GHF says it is working to open new sites, including northern Gaza, but such distribution points are not yet open.
There isn’t enough food for everyone who needs it. Tens of thousands of Palestinians were forced to seek assistance from a small number of sites, and the lucky few managed to secure some relief, but for the most part, the outcome was disastrous.
Palestinian authorities say over 60 people have been killed by Israeli forces near the GHF aid site near the city of Rafa in the southern city.
It is difficult to establish exactly what happened in all these incidents, as Israel prevents international media from entering Gaza.
Nearly 30 people were killed and dozens were injured on Tuesday, according to Nasser Hospital, Palestinian Health Ministry. Israeli forces said the force fired multiple times after identifying “several suspects deviating from the designated access route are moving towards them.”
Palestinians and hospital authorities said three Palestinians were shot dead on Monday and were injured while accessing aid. The IDF said Israeli forces fired a warning shot about one kilometer (about 1,100 yards) from the aid distribution site.
On Sunday, Palestinian health ministry, hospital officials and half a dozen witnesses said Israeli forces were responsible for the shooting that Palestinian officials said they had killed 31 people.
At the time, the Israeli forces said the forces “didn’t fire civilians while they were nearby or inside,” but sources from the Israeli military confirmed that Israeli forces fired at individuals about a kilometre away before the aid scene opened.
The GHF said on Sunday that none of the gunshots were found in the distribution centre itself or the surrounding area. After filming Tuesday, the organization directed IDF questions regarding the shooting at the aid site.
“This has been a field that went far beyond our safe distribution sites. We recognize the tragic nature of the situation and continue to be committed to ensuring the safety of all civilians during humanitarian activities at all of our sites,” GHF said in a statement.
There was widespread international condemnation, especially from the United Nations.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday he was “applauseful” when reporting Sunday’s death and injuries.
“It is unacceptable that Palestinians risk their lives for food,” Guterres said in a statement, calling for an “immediate and independent investigation” of the event and “seek for the perpetrator to be held liable.”
U.N. Human Rights Director Volker Tark said on Tuesday that Palestinians “die the most Grimm of choice: die from starvation or at the risk of being killed when trying to access the small amount of food available through Israel’s militarized humanitarian mechanisms.”
In the X post, UNRWA executive director Philip Lazarini also denounced the new mechanism, saying, “The aid distribution has become a death trap. It has become a massive casualty injured and killed among civilians who have been starved by gunshots.
Last week, European Union foreign policy director Kaja Karas criticized the new aid mechanism run by the GHF, saying the EU “does not support the privatization of any kind of humanitarian aid distribution.”
British, French and Canadian leaders are threatening to take “concrete actions” including targeted sanctions if Israel continues to stop new military attacks and block new invasions into Gaza.
