The Voice News: Israeli forces opened fire near a mass of desperate Palestinians in southern Gaza on Tuesday after chaos broke out at a food distribution center managed by the newly established Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an aid group handpicked by Israel. The disorder underscored international fears that the organization lacks the experience and neutrality needed to handle the enormous humanitarian demands of the war-ravaged enclave.
The GHF, formed just days ago, struggled to control the overwhelming crowds of starving civilians at a designated secure distribution site (SDS) in Rafah. With hundreds of thousands of residents attempting to access emergency supplies amid a tightening Israeli blockade and an 11-week siege, the organization’s staff eventually abandoned their posts, citing safety concerns.
“At one moment in the late afternoon, the volume of people at the SDS was such that the GHF team fell back to allow a small number of Palestinians in Gaza to take aid safely and dissipate,” the foundation said in a statement.
Eyewitnesses reported scenes of panic as Israeli tanks opened fire, a military helicopter deployed flares, and several people were seen bleeding from gunshot wounds. The Israeli military confirmed it had fired “warning shots” to regain control of the distribution zone but did not clarify the number of injuries or whether live ammunition had been used directly against civilians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged a “temporary loss of control” in his televised address but insisted, “Happily, we brought it back under control.”
Videos circulated online showed fences torn down and people stampeding into open fields to grab whatever aid they could. While some managed to collect boxes containing essential items—sugar, flour, pasta, and tahini—many left empty-handed, traumatized by gunfire and the breakdown of order.
“There was no system,” said Hosni Abu Amra, a Rafah resident. “People rushed in, they were shooting, and we ran. We left without anything to ease this hunger.”
“It was chaos,” added Ahmed Abu Taha, another local. “There were aircraft overhead and gunfire everywhere. People were terrified.”
The alarming scenes came just two days after Jake Wood, GHF’s founding director, abruptly resigned. In his resignation letter, he said it would be impossible for the organization to fulfill its mandate while adhering to essential humanitarian principles of neutrality, independence, humanity, and impartiality.
Major international organizations, including the UN and Oxfam, had refused to collaborate with the GHF from the outset. Critics warned that the group’s lack of experience, combined with its alignment with the Israeli military, could compromise the safety of aid recipients and staff while undermining humanitarian norms.
“These tragic scenes confirm what we feared,” said UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric. “We already have operationally sound, principled plans to deliver aid. What we’re witnessing now is the avoidable failure of a politicized alternative.”
Despite the debacle, the GHF reported that it had distributed 8,000 boxes of food by the end of Tuesday—enough to feed 44,000 people for just a few days. That figure represents less than 2% of Gaza’s population of over 2.1 million. The foundation promised to scale up operations in the coming days.
Initial images of aid parcels—mostly basic dry goods—suggest meager provisions. While the GHF claims it is supported by several small aid organizations, the group has yet to disclose its full funding sources. None of the named partners have responded to media inquiries or confirmed the extent of their involvement.
Israel has long accused Hamas of exploiting humanitarian supply routes but has offered little evidence. In response, Tel Aviv has increasingly tried to bypass traditional international NGOs and assert direct control over aid logistics—often through military or private contractors. However, this shift has brought new risks.
According to a source quoted by Haaretz, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) failed to properly prepare for the scale of the crowd and had considered using gunfire as a method to “direct the population.” The source added: “They treated it like a combat zone, not a humanitarian corridor. You can’t control a starving crowd with bullets and expect safety.”
Bushra Khalidi, policy lead for Oxfam in the occupied Palestinian territory, condemned the militarization of humanitarian efforts: “Even under optimal conditions, no logistics firm can feed 2.1 million people overnight. Humanitarianism is not just about food parcels—it’s about creating conditions for survival.”
The broader crisis in Gaza continues to escalate. Since the collapse of a March ceasefire, Israeli forces have conducted relentless assaults across the Strip, with local health authorities reporting nearly 4,000 deaths in recent weeks. The total death toll from Israeli airstrikes and ground operations since October 2023 has now surpassed 54,000, the majority believed to be civilians.
Israel’s war began following a devastating cross-border assault by Hamas on 7 October 2023, which left around 1,200 Israelis dead and 250 hostages taken.
As Gaza teeters on the edge of famine and aid efforts falter, the international community faces a moral and logistical reckoning: how to feed a besieged population amid deepening violence and political interference.