Chaos amid starvation: Videos from Gaza show Palestinians struggling to get food at distribution sites
by Marin Scott, Bryan Gallion and Tavleen Tarrant
A new food distribution system debuted in the Gaza Strip on May 27 after an 11-week aid blockade Israel said was aimed to further pressure Hamas into releasing hostages — the longest blockade of humanitarian resources since the war started in October 2023.
Distribution began while doctors warned that hunger was approaching starvation for many Palestinians.
The operation is run by Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a Delaware-based nonprofit backed by the United States and Israel. Both countries said this arrangement would prevent Hamas from stealing aid after they made unsubstantiated claims of systematic theft by the militant group.
For people in Gaza, the process of obtaining food at GHF sites has been chaotic, dangerous and sometimes deadly.
Between May 27 and July 31, 'at least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food,' according to a report from the United Nations Human Rights Office.
Of the total, 859 people were killed "in the vicinity" of GHF sites and 514 others along the routes of food convoys, it said, adding that most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military.
The Israeli government and GHF blame Hamas for the chaos and deaths.
Videos shared on social media in the last two months, collected and verified by NBC News, depict the dangers that hungry Palestinians face when seeking desperately needed aid.
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This video, filmed on the opening day of distribution at the GHF site in Rafah, captures the chaos after Israeli soldiers fired live rounds into the air to disperse the massive crowds.
Credit: Social Media
GHF created four food distribution sites to control the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, replacing an old system run by the United Nations that was organized across hundreds of sites.
Of the four GHF sites, three are still operating.
Israel continues to control almost every part of the aid distribution process, with its military inspecting all aid arriving at border crossings.GHF employs contractors who provide security at each site. The organization says any fatal attacks on Palestinians have happened outside its distribution sites.
'To date, none of our aid workers have engaged in any lethal engagement,' a GHF spokesperson said.
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A June 20 video from the Khan Younis distribution site shows GHF-contracted security personnel in tactical gear pointing guns at Palestinians looking for aid.A GHF spokesperson said the video shows that a flash-bang grenade was used to 'get people to move.'
Credit: Basem Mallouh, Instagram
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A second video at the same site shows security contractors in tactical gear deploying pepper spray at a crowd, as GHF employees wearing blue vests stand nearby.A GHF spokesperson said pepper spray, described as 'nonlethal,' has been used by the organization to 'disperse crowds, break up a fight or prevent a trampling incident.'
Credit: Ahmead.Jamea, TikTok
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Another video from June shows a man in tactical gear firing a canister into a crowd of Palestinians.When asked about the video, a GHF spokesperson said the organization uses 'white smoke to disperse, not gas/tear gas,' and described it as 'totally harmless.'
Credit: Social Media
In interviews with NBC News' crew in Gaza, several Palestinians said they were scared for their lives as they attempted to obtain food for their families.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) 'opened fire on us randomly,' Mohammed Abu Deqqa said of his experience trying to collect food from GHF's site in Al-Shakoush, Rafah. 'There are so many dead and wounded, we were only trying to get food ... It was hell.'
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In a video from July 12, shots from Israeli forces are seen hitting the ground near a large group of Palestinians as they pack together about half a mile away from the GHF aid site in Rafah.GHF said the incident was "not at our site." The IDF said this incident is "under review."
Credit: Social Media
In a video from July 12, shots from Israeli forces are seen hitting the ground near a large group of Palestinians as they pack together about half a mile away from the GHF aid site in Rafah.GHF said the incident was "not at our site." The IDF said this incident is "under review."
Credit: Social Media
The Israeli military has acknowledged that its soldiers have fired warning shots or have fired at individuals who they claim appear to pose a threat or are in unauthorized areas.
In a statement to NBC News, an IDF spokesperson said that as part of its operations along main routes to GHF distribution centers, the military conducts reviews aimed at 'improving the operational response in the area and minimizing possible friction' between Palestinians and IDF forces.
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On July 24, GHF advertised a 'women-only' distribution day on its social media channels.
Credit: NBC News Crew
On July 24, GHF advertised a 'women-only' distribution day on its social media channels.
Credit: NBC News Crew
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In a video captured by NBC News, Najah Shaheen, a mother of six, said she walked more than 2 miles to a distribution point. The 58-year-old said that she has diabetes and that she hadn't eaten in days.
Credit: NBC News Crew
In a video captured by NBC News, Najah Shaheen, a mother of six, said she walked more than 2 miles to a distribution point. The 58-year-old said that she has diabetes and that she hadn't eaten in days.
Credit: NBC News Crew
Three women who had been seeking aid told NBC News that the crowd faced live bullets, tear gas and pepper spray as people tried to get food at the Khan Younis GHF site that day.Muhammad Saqr, director of nursing at Nasser Hospital, said two women were killed while on their way to the distribution site.
A GHF spokesperson said that the women-only day was 'very successful' and that there were 'no incidents' at the site itself.
Israel announced Sunday it was implementing limited pauses in fighting to allow supplies to enter Gaza after international outrage over its aid restrictions. Experts and advocates told NBC News the hunger crisis in Gaza has reached a 'tipping point.'
President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, assessed a GHF distribution site during a rare visit to Gaza on Friday.
Many Palestinians continue to risk their lives to avoid starvation while mourning loved ones they have lost in their desperate search for food.'I told him not to go. I said we would endure the hunger,' a grieving father, Khamis Abu Mustafa, said of his 23-year-old son, Ali, who died in June while trying to collect food from the Khan Younis GHF site for his family.
'But he couldn't bear to see his siblings starving. He went — and came back a martyr.' More from NBC News
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