GAZA/BERLIN/UNITED NATIONS - Thousands of Palestinians crowded into a humanitarian aid distribution center in Rafah on Tuesday, triggering chaos and a breakdown of order on the site's first day of operation under Israeli military oversight, Palestinian witnesses and sources told Xinhua.
The center, established at the Al-Alam roundabout in southern Gaza by the Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US-based organization, was intended to deliver food aid to a population facing severe shortages due to Israel's blockade. But scenes of disorder quickly unfolded as residents overran the facility, seizing food parcels and even dismantling parts of the barbed wire fencing that surrounded the site.
Eyewitnesses described the situation deteriorating rapidly, with overcrowding and a stampede exacerbating the chaos.
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Footage circulating on social media showed large crowds storming the area, grabbing boxes of aid. The Israeli military said its troops, deployed outside the site for security, fired warning shots but denied firing directly at the compound or from a helicopter.
Palestinian sources said American private security personnel contracted to guard the center withdrew as the situation escalated. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Hamas-run Gaza media office condemned the aid rollout, calling it a "disastrous failure" and accusing Israel of using humanitarian relief as a tool of political leverage. The statement denounced the Israeli-US initiative for distributing aid in so-called "buffer zones" and accused Israel of pursuing a strategy of "systematic starvation."
The statement called for the reopening of Gaza's crossings and for international humanitarian organizations to be allowed to operate without restrictions.
The GHF, which operates independently of the United Nations and major international aid agencies, has faced mounting criticism in Gaza, where residents and local authorities say it undermines Palestinian dignity and marginalizes longstanding humanitarian organizations.
The United Nations has also publicly expressed reservations about the initiative. "We have been watching the video coming out of Gaza around one of the distribution points set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. And frankly, these videos, these images, are heartbreaking to say the least," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said on Tuesday.
"As the Secretary-General noted last week, we and our partners have a detailed, principled, operationally sound plan supported by Member States to get aid to the desperate population," Dujarric added, insisting on an "operationally sound plan".
"We continue to stress that a meaningful scale-up of humanitarian operations is essential to stave off famine and meet the needs of all civilians, wherever they are," Dujarric told a regular briefing.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said continued bombardment and shelling across the Gaza Strip has had horrific impacts on civilians.
The Gaza health authorities reported dozens of people killed and more than 150 injured in the past 24 hours, OCHA said on Tuesday.
According to health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza, the Palestinian death toll since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on Oct 7, 2023, has surpassed 54,000.
Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Tuesday criticized Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip, stressing that Germany would not succumb to political pressure or be forced into solidarity.
Speaking at the WDR Europaforum in Berlin, Wadephul described the denial of essential supplies such as food and medicine to Gaza's civilian population as "completely unacceptable."
His comments came a day after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz escalated criticism of Israel's military campaign. Speaking at the same forum on Monday, Merz said he "no longer understands" the purpose of Israel's military operations in the region.
Building on Merz's remarks, Wadephul asserted that the Israeli army's military actions had exceeded the limits of proportionality in its fight against Hamas.
While Germany stands firm in its fight against antisemitism, this must not result in the country being instrumentalized in the ongoing conflict in Gaza, he said.
When asked whether Germany would continue supplying arms to Israel, Wadephul said Berlin would act wherever there is a risk of international humanitarian law being violated, adding that in such cases, it would "certainly not supply weapons."
