Chaos mars opening of Israeli-backed aid distribution site in Gaza
Chaos and confusion broke out at a new aid center in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the first full day that humanitarian assistance was being distributed through a contentious effort conceived by Israelis.
A blockade by Israel since March had halted food and fuel entering the enclave, leaving Palestinians desperate for supplies. Aid organizations suspended their operations as food stockpiles dwindled, and relief officials have been warning that widespread hunger has become a daily reality.
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The desperation was evident at the distribution site Tuesday, where footage verified by The New York Times showed chaotic scenes unfolding, with hundreds of people gathering in the compound. Large crowds, including women and young children, could be seen running toward the center of the site where boxes of aid had been piled up earlier in the day, and the chaos grew as more people climbed up and over sand berms surrounding the location.
In one video, a large crowd can be seen suddenly running away from the distribution site as several short bursts of gunfire are heard in the distance. The panicked crowd tramples the metal fencing set up around the perimeter of the site.
Security at the new distribution site is being provided by private American contractors, but the Israeli military is stationing forces nearby, outside the perimeter.
On Tuesday, the military released a statement saying that “troops fired warning shots in the area outside the compound” but denied carrying out aerial fire.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the organization behind the effort, hinted at some of the chaos at its distribution site in Rafah in a statement Tuesday. It noted that “the needs on the ground are great” and that in the late afternoon, the volume of people at the southern Gaza distribution site was so overwhelming that it had prompted the foundation’s team to retreat “to allow a small number of Gazans to take aid safely and dissipate.”
The foundation said Tuesday that about 8,000 food boxes had been distributed in the enclave so far, with each one feeding “5.5 people for 3.5 days, totaling 462,000 meals.” The flow of aid is expected to increase daily, it added.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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