The first day of the Israeli-US ‘aid’ distribution mechanism in Gaza ended in abject failure yesterday.
The ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’ (GHF) distribution centre in Rafah (southern Gaza) completely collapsed when the IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces) opened fire on Palestinians, causing the American personnel to instantly flee.
Thousands of starving people then managed to storm the site and help themselves to everything, from food aid to non-essential items.
Israeli tank and gunfire followed as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians walked through Israeli military lines to reach the distribution hub set up on the outskirts of Rafah by the US-backed GHF, which Israel says is to take over food distribution in Gaza.
Israel’s new distribution plan, backed by the United States, has been widely criticised by established aid agencies such as the UN.
Israeli army radio said that the US contract workers who are in charge of securing the aid distribution sites completely lost control after people rushed to the area to try and get the much-needed food they have been deprived of for several months.
The contractors had reportedly fired shots in the air to try to disperse the crowds, which caused chaos.
According to the reports, the Israeli army was then sent in to try and evacuate these contractors, and Israeli military helicopters were also firing to ‘try to get the crowds to disperse’.
The Government Media Office in Gaza issued a statement saying that Israel’s project to distribute supplies ‘in the so-called “buffer zones” has failed disastrously.
‘Thousands of starving civilians – besieged and cut off from food and medicine by the occupation for nearly 90 days – rushed to these areas in a heartbreaking scene that ended with the storming of distribution centres and the seizing of food under the crushing weight of hunger,’ it said.
It added that Israeli forces had responded ‘by opening fire and injuring several citizens, which clearly reflects the total collapse of the so-called humanitarian track that the occupation claims to uphold.’
The office said the scenes were evidence of Israel’s failure to manage the humanitarian crisis ‘it deliberately created through a policy of starvation, siege, and bombing’.
It added the establishment of ‘buffer ghettos’ for distributing limited aid ‘under the threat of death, bullets, and starvation does not indicate a genuine intention to address the crisis.
‘Rather, it represents a calculated political strategy to perpetuate starvation, dismantle Palestinian society, and impose politicised humanitarian tracks that serve the occupation’s security and military agenda.’
