Dozens injured by Israeli gunfire as crowds overwhelmed Gaza aid site, UN says
David Gritten
BBC News
Reuters
The UN Human Rights Office has said it believes 47 people were injured in Gaza on Tuesday when crowds overwhelmed an aid distribution centre run by a controversial new group backed by the US and Israel.
A senior official said the UN was still gathering information but that most of the injuries were due to gunshots and that "it was shooting from the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]".
Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said one person was killed and 48 others were wounded.
The IDF said it was checking the reports. A spokesman said troops fired "warning shots" into the air in the area outside the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's site in the southern city of Rafah but that they did not fire towards people.
The GHF's aid distribution system uses US security contractors and bypasses the UN, which has rejected it as unethical and unworkable.
The US and Israeli governments have said it is preventing aid from being stolen by Hamas, which the armed group denies doing.
UN agencies have warned that Gaza's 2.1 million population is facing catastrophic levels of hunger after an almost three-month Israeli blockade that was eased last week.
On Tuesday, thousands of Palestinians desperate for aid headed to the GHF distribution centre in Rafah, which is under full Israeli military control.
In the late afternoon, videos showing chaotic scenes as thousands of men, women and children streamed into the site, walking over torn-down fences and earth berms. In one clip, some people are seen running as what appear to be gunshots ring out.
On Wednesday, the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories said it had received information that about 47 people were injured during the incident.
"It is through gunshots," Ajith Sunghay told reporters in Geneva. "We are trying to confirm what has happened to them in the sense of seriousness [of the injuries]. What we know is that it was shooting from the IDF."
A spokesman for Gaza's health ministry said one man, Salem Abu Moussa, died after being shot at the aid distribution centre. He was initially taken to the Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah before being transferred to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where he succumbed to his wounds. Another 48 people were injured, he added.
"We are checking information from the UN. At the time we are speaking, we have no information on this matter," IDF spokesman Colonel Olivier Rafowicz told AFP news agency.
Israeli troops "fired warning shots into the air, in the area outside" the GHF centre, he said, adding that "in no case [did they fire] towards the people".
The GHF said on Tuesday that at one point its team "fell back to allow a small number of Gazans to take aid safely and dissipate", adding that this was "in accordance with GHF protocol to avoid casualties". It also said it could confirm that no shots were fired at the site.
The UN Human Rights Office has said it believes 47 people were injured in Gaza on Tuesday when crowds overwhelmed an aid distribution centre run by a controversial new group backed by the US and Israel.
A senior official said the UN was still gathering information but that most of the injuries were due to gunshots and that "it was shooting from the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]".
Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said one person was killed and 48 others were wounded.
The IDF said it was checking the reports. A spokesman said troops fired "warning shots" into the air in the area outside the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's site in the southern city of Rafah but that they did not fire towards people.
The GHF's aid distribution system uses US security contractors and bypasses the UN, which has rejected it as unethical and unworkable.
The US and Israeli governments have said it is preventing aid from being stolen by Hamas, which the armed group denies doing.
UN agencies have warned that Gaza's 2.1 million population is facing catastrophic levels of hunger after an almost three-month Israeli blockade that was eased last week.
On Tuesday, thousands of Palestinians desperate for aid headed to the GHF distribution centre in Rafah, which is under full Israeli military control.
In the late afternoon, videos showing chaotic scenes as thousands of men, women and children streamed into the site, walking over torn-down fences and earth berms. In one clip, some people are seen running as what appear to be gunshots ring out.
On Wednesday, the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories said it had received information that about 47 people were injured during the incident.
"It is through gunshots," Ajith Sunghay told reporters in Geneva. "We are trying to confirm what has happened to them in the sense of seriousness [of the injuries]. What we know is that it was shooting from the IDF."
A spokesman for Gaza's health ministry said one man, Salem Abu Moussa, died after being shot at the aid distribution centre. He was initially taken to the Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah before being transferred to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where he succumbed to his wounds. Another 48 people were injured, he added.
"We are checking information from the UN. At the time we are speaking, we have no information on this matter," IDF spokesman Colonel Olivier Rafowicz told AFP news agency.
Israeli troops "fired warning shots into the air, in the area outside" the GHF centre, he said, adding that "in no case [did they fire] towards the people".
The GHF said on Tuesday that at one point its team "fell back to allow a small number of Gazans to take aid safely and dissipate", adding that this was "in accordance with GHF protocol to avoid casualties". It also said it could confirm that no shots were fired at the site.
Harm-ass controls civilian Gazans via their control of the flow of aid. With the new mechanism which channels aid direct to Gazans, Harm-ass’ power will be removed. And so will the relevance of all the corrupted UN aid agencies. We can expect the UN to be uncoorperative and yes, even obstruct the new aid mechanism. We can expect the mainstream media to feed misleading news. This video explains.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/B4s199zowig?feature=shared
Let's Fact Check Tom Fletcher the UN Humanitarian Chief:
ReplyDelete1. "We've got 10,000 trucks on the border right now, cleared, ready to go, and we'll do everything to get them in and save lives...." Fletcher told CNN
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-855578
Please check: 10,000 trucks lined up will reach Lebanon.
2. "14,000 babies could die in 48 hours..." Fletcher told BBC
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/20/first-thing-un-says-14000-babies-could-die-in-gaza-in-next-48-hours-under-israeli-aid-blockade
Did this happen? Please check Harm-ass death casualty list.
Just hours ago, World Food Program's warehouse in Central Gaza was broken into and looted by a hungry crowd resulting in 2 deaths and multiple injuries.
ReplyDeleteWFP is a United Nations Agency. Just look at the report and pictures. The warehouse, in Deir al Balah, Central Gaza is FULL OF FOOD.
But didn't the UN Humanitarian Affairs Chief Tom Fletcher just say a few days ago that 14,000 babies will die in the next 48 hours unless aid is allowed in by the IDF? Didn't he say there is no more food in Gaza, famine conditions and 10,000 trucks are waiting on the Gaza border to be let in? 10,000 trucks lined up all the way past Tel Aviv and Haifa to the Lebanese border? So why is the UN warehouse in Gaza FULL OF FOOD? Why didn't the UN feed that emaciated baby, the images shared with the global media to gain pity of Gullible Guppies?
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/28/middleeast/gaza-starving-wfp-warehouse-famine-intl-latam
https://www.ft.com/content/9c8de78e-a9f6-4e0c-9f5e-eb3d42cc1b5c
https://www.caledonianrecord.com/news/national/thousands-of-palestinians-loot-un-warehouse-in-central-gaza-afp-journalist/article_05ab4561-4f59-5577-8849-b9f7200772d4.html
mfer, WHY should all those UN aids guarded by zionist soldier boys?
ReplyDeleteHelping to deliver those for aids?
Checking infiltrating Hamas?
These two questions drown all yr mfering lies upon lies.
Oooop… keep playing yr mfering c&p activities from the zionist sources.
Remember WWW has long memory!