Dozens injured by Israeli gunfire as crowds overwhelmed Gaza aid site, UN says

The UN Human Rights Office has said it believes 47 people were injured in Gaza on Tuesday when crowds overwhelmed an aid distribution centre run by a controversial new group backed by the US and Israel.

A senior official said the UN was still gathering information but that most of the injuries were due to gunshots and that "it was shooting from the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]".

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said one person was killed and 48 others were wounded.

The IDF said it was checking the reports. A spokesman said troops fired "warning shots" into the air in the area outside the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's site in the southern city of Rafah but that they did not fire towards people.

The GHF said "no shots were fired at Palestinian crowds" trying to obtain aid at its distribution centre, and that there were no casualties.

It also said that operations were continuing at two sites in southern Gaza despite the incident.

The GHF's aid system uses US security contractors and bypasses the UN, which says it is unworkable and unethical.

The US and Israeli governments have said it is preventing aid from being stolen by Hamas, which the armed group denies doing.

UN agencies have warned that Gaza's 2.1 million population is facing catastrophic levels of hunger after an almost three-month Israeli blockade that was eased last week.

On Tuesday, thousands of Palestinians desperate for aid headed to the GHF distribution centre in the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah, which is under full Israeli military control.

In the late afternoon, videos showing chaotic scenes as thousands of men, women and children streamed into the site, walking over torn-down fences and earth berms. In one clip, some people are seen running as what appear to be gunshots ring out.

On Wednesday, the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories said it had received information that about 47 people were injured during the incident.

"It is through gunshots," Ajith Sunghay told reporters in Geneva. "We are trying to confirm what has happened to them in the sense of seriousness [of the injuries]. What we know is that it was shooting from the IDF."

A spokesman for Gaza's health ministry said one man, Salem Abu Moussa, died after being shot at the aid distribution centre. He was initially taken to the Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah before being transferred to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where he succumbed to his wounds. Another 48 people were injured, he added.

"We are checking information from the UN. At the time we are speaking, we have no information on this matter," IDF spokesman Colonel Olivier Rafowicz said.

Israeli troops "fired warning shots into the air, in the area outside" the GHF centre, he said, adding that "in no case [did they fire] towards the people".

Later on Wednesday, the GHF put out a statement saying that its two distribution sites in Tal al-Sultan and the nearby Morag corridor were fully operational and had so far distributed about 14,550 food boxes to Palestinians - equivalent to 840,262 meals.

The group also said it wanted to address the claim that Palestinians were shot at and killed while trying to obtain aid at the Tal al-Sultan site on Tuesday.

"This is false. No shots were fired at Palestinian crowds at the [distribution site] and there were no casualties," it added.

It similarly denied that the site was overrun or destroyed.

"According to established protocol, for a brief moment the GHF team intentionally relaxed its security protocols to safeguard against crowd reactions to finally receiving food," it said.

However, Mr Sunghay said: "What we saw yesterday is a very clear example of the dangers of distributing aid in the way GHF is doing this... Exposing people to death and injury trying to get food."

He added that many people in Gaza were fearful of traveling south to try access the aid, because of the security concerns during the long journey, and because they feared detention by Israeli forces when they got there. Many others, he said, were unable to travel: women with small children, the elderly, and those who are sick or injured.

Asked whether at least some food, as distributed by GHF, was better than no food at all, Mr Sunghay said: "There is a right to food, but also to distribution of food and humanitarian supplies in a safe and dignified manner."

The UN and other established aid agencies have refused to co-operate with the GHF, arguing that its operation does not comply with the humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality.

They have said they have tonnes of supplies ready to enter Gaza, and a detailed plan to distribute them that minimises looting.

Gaza's Hamas-run Government Media Office said Israel's efforts to distribute aid had "failed miserably".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech on Tuesday that his government had "worked out a plan with our American friends to have controlled distribution sites" for aid where it would be "very hard for Hamas to steal it, especially because we guard these positions".

He acknowledged that there had been "some loss of control momentarily" at the GHF site in Rafah, but added: "We brought it back under control. We're going to put many more of these."

"And the idea is basically to take away the humanitarian looting as a tool of war of Hamas to give it to the population. Eventually to have a sterile zone in the south of Gaza where the entire population can move for its own protection."

A senior Trump administration official meanwhile said: "Aid is getting to the people in need, and through their secure distribution system, Israel is kept safe and Hamas empty handed."

Israel imposed a total blockade on humanitarian aid and commercial supplies to Gaza on 2 March and resumed its military offensive two weeks later, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. It said the steps were meant to put pressure on the armed group to release the 58 hostages still held in Gaza, up to 23 of whom are believed to be alive.

On 19 May, the Israeli military launched an expanded offensive that Netanyahu said would see troops "take control of all areas" of Gaza. The following day, he said Israel would also temporarily ease the blockade and allow a "basic" amount of food into Gaza.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response Hamas' cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 54,084 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 3,924 since Israel resumed its offensive, according to the territory's health ministry.