Gaza aid distributor admits losing control of aid site in Rafah
The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says the volume of people seeking aid at its distribution site was so great its team had to pull back to allow people to “take aid safely and dissipate” and to avoid casualties.
It added “Gazans experienced several hour delays in accessing the site due to blockades imposed by Hamas”. The foundation said it has so far distributed about 8,000 food boxes, totaling 462,000 meals. The claim could not be independently verified.
Chaotic scenes erupted as thousands of desperate people rushed the site after nearly a three-month total aid blockade by Israel and mass hunger.
Palestinians seeking aid gather near aid distribution site in Rafah
If anything goes wrong, blame it on Hamas. There was no issue with delays, total bullshit statement.
Contractors in charge of aid distribution sites ‘completely lost control'
Security sources who’ve been speaking to the Israeli army radio said that the US contract workers who are in charge for 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 and disperse the crowds, which caused a lot of chaos. The Israeli army was then sent in to try and evacuate these contractors, according to the reports.
We’re also hearing reports of military helicopters that were firing in the vicinity to try and also get the crowds to disperse.
But it’s worth noting how we got here in the first place: This was an incredibly controversial plan for humanitarian assistance after the Israeli government had blockaded any type of aid for nearly three months. Throughout the war, there was very little aid going into Gaza to begin with, so people had been hungry and there has been malnutrition among women and children.
Israeli tank and gunfire reported from aid distribution site
A reporter from The Associated Press says Israeli tank and gunfire could be heard as large crowds of Palestinians tried to reach an aid centre in southern Gaza.
There was no immediate word on whether there were any casualties.
The firing came as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians walked through Israeli military lines to reach the distribution hub set up on the outskirts of Rafah by a US-backed group that Israel has slated to take over food distribution in Gaza. It was the second day of operations at the hub.
Palestinians in the war-battered territory are starving after Israel blockaded the Strip of all humanitarian relief for nearly three months.
