Israel/OPT: Palestinians killed & wounded as Israeli military opens fire at aid distribution site linked to "militarised and privatised" US group
Staff at a controversial aid organisation backed by Israel and the US to distribute aid at a handful of sites in the south of Gaza following eleven weeks of total blockade by Israel lost control of its distribution centre on its second day of operations. The newly established Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, described as "militarised, privatised and politicised" by a former UN humanitarian chief uses armed American security contractors, and is an attempt to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid in Gaza. Its executive director resigned before the group began distributing supplies, saying it could not fulfil the principles of "humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence". On May 27 2025, GHF staff abandoned their posts, seemingly unprepared for the thousands-strong crowd attempting to receive aid amid widespread starvation in the territory. Images shared on social media showed people waiting in queues between wire fences. Most of the people who had walked for miles left empty-handed after the Israeli military opened fire on the starving crowd. Reuters reported on May 28 2025 that three people had been killed with nearly fifty more injured as a result.
On 1 June, it was reported that more than 30 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire, as they went to receive food at an aid distribution point. The International Committee of the Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah received a “mass casualty influx” of 179 people, 21 of whom were declared dead upon arrival.