Israeli soldiers opened fire near crowds of Palestinians walking towards a new food distribution site in southern Gaza, killing at least 27 people on Tuesday. The incident is the latest chaos to tarnish the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a contentious new aid system that has been beset by problems since its launch last week.
The Red Cross and Gaza health ministry confirmed that multiple civilians were injured and killed after they deviated from an Israeli-designated “safe corridor” leading to one of the distribution sites. The Israeli military said its forces fired near “a few” people who had strayed from the route and did not respond to warning shots, calling them “suspects” and saying they posed a threat to security.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the bloodshed, stating that it showed once again that the new system of aid delivery is “dehumanizing, dangerous and severely ineffective.” Aid groups echoed these concerns, with an emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders calling the events “a stark reminder of the risks” associated with the new system.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has dismissed its critics, arguing that it has delivered over 100,000 boxes of food to hungry Gazans. However, the organization has faced turmoil since its inception, including the resignation of its executive director and a US advisory firm pulling out of its involvement.
Critics argue that the new aid system is needed to prevent Hamas from stealing and stockpiling food, but UN officials have said there is no evidence that international aid was diverted by Hamas. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is an untested private group that pays American contractors to distribute food from sites in Israeli-patrolled areas of southern Gaza.
The incident highlights the ongoing concerns about the new aid system and its impact on civilians. As one nurse at a field hospital said, “The scenes were tragic… everyone was lying on the ground, everyone screaming and everyone shouting.”
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/world/middleeast/gaza-aid-site-shooting-israel.html