“Heartbreaking scenes”
Hungry storms distribution center – then shots fall
Updated on May 28, 2025 – 6:52 a.m.Reading time: 3 min.
When a private aid organization distributed relief supplies in the Gaza Strip, there were chaotic scenes. At least three people are shot.
A day after the start of the work of the private aid organization Gaza Humanitrian Foundation (GHF) in the Gaza Strip, there was chaotic scenes in a aid goods distribution center in the south of the Palestinian area. As an AFP reporter reported, thousands of people stormed the center in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. A UN spokesman spoke of “heartbreaking scenes” and called for a “reasonable plan” in the distribution of relief goods.
The GHF explained that the mass of people in front of the center in Rafah was so great that the employees of the GHF had returned to enable a “small number of residents of the Gaza Strip” to be safe to accept relief goods. However, normal operation was quickly resumed after the incident.
The aid organization blamed the Islamist Hamas prevailing in the Gaza Strip for blockages for several hours for delays in the distribution of relief goods at the center. Hamas in turn spoke of a “tragic and painful scene” with “thousands of hungry people”.
According to the Israeli army, soldiers fired warning shots in the area around the distribution center. According to the army, the soldiers brought the situation under control that the security of the military members was “not affected”. It is expected that the distribution of food is “continued as planned”.
A resident of the Gaza Strip said that he stood in a line for relief supplies in Rafah with “hundreds of citizens” when a large crowd had suddenly started to push. People had “tried to get in to take what they could”. At some point shots had fallen, whereupon people would have dispersed.
Palestinian rescue workers later reported that three people were killed by shots of the Israeli army near the center in Rafah and dozens of others were injured. An Israeli military spokesman said the report was checked.
The spokesman for UN General Secretary António Guterres, Stéphane Dujarric, spoke of “heartbreaking” pictures. Dujarric referred to a “detailed, value -oriented and practical plan” for the distribution of relief goods that the UN and its partner organizations would have developed.
The GHF announced the recording of its work in the Gaza Strip on Monday evening. According to the organization, 8,000 food boxes have been distributed so far, which corresponds to 462,000 meals.
The organization accused Hamas of pronouncing “death threats” against aid organizations that help with the distribution of the GHF relief goods. In addition, the Islamist organization residents of the Palestinian area block access to the aid deliveries.
The organization was launched in the course of the increasing international pressure on Israel due to its blockade of aid deliveries in the Gaza Strip. The US State Department announced the establishment of the private foundation in early May.
The declared goal of the Israeli government is to use the GHF to prevent Hamas from being accessed by GHF. Israel accuses Islamists of capturing international aid deliveries for the needy people in the Gaza Strip. Hamas rejects the allegations.
International critics criticize that the new organization would avoid the UN and other aid organizations. GHF managing director Jake Wood resigned from his post on Sunday. Wood justified his decision by the fact that the foundation could not fulfill its mandate in accordance with the “humanitarian principles”. On Monday, the foundation named a successor for the post.
