What to Know About Deaths at Gaza Aid Sites
GHF is a controversial U.S. company backed by Israel to be the major distributor of aid in Gaza. The new aid distribution plan has been heavily criticized by the U.N. for its inaccessibility. Three of GHF's distribution points are in southern Gaza, making it a long and difficult journey through militarized zones for many Palestinians.
'From where I am, you have to walk 20 kilometers there and back, carrying food. Just the strongest and fastest can get there,' Oday Basheer, who lives in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, told TIME in June.
'The weaponization of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime,' spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights Office Thameen Al Keetan said in June.
One main controversy surrounding the organization is its use of private security personnel, as well as private logistics companies to facilitate aid entering Gaza and its distribution. Gunfire towards Palestinians in search of aid has repeatedly been reported, with witnesses claiming shots fired by Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers.
The IDF has previously said on multiple occasions that it has fired warning shots in the direction of suspects approaching troops, and that it has been examining further reports of civilian casualties at aid sites.
Since GHF aid centers began operations, there have been at least 18 incidents of violence in which Palestinians have been killed at the aid centers, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, its Civil Defense Agency, and health workers in Gaza.
On Thursday, the Associated Press (AP) reported that two anonymous U.S. contractors working with GHF said that guards at aid sites were using stun grenades, pepper spray, and live minution as Palestinians collected aid.
Video provided by one the contractors, published by the AP, also shows tightly-packed crowds of people jostling for aid with the sounds of gunfire and stun grenades nearby that appear to panic the crowds.
In Brussels this week, prior to the AP's report, GHF chairman Johnnie Moore said: 'We have not had a single violent incident in our distribution sites…[or] in close proximity to our distribution sites.'
'There is an unbelievable effort around the world to try to shut down our operation. We will not be shut down,' he added.
GHF said in a statement on Thursday July 3 that the reporting from The Associated Press is 'categorically false' and that 'at no point were civilians under fire at a GHF distribution site. The gunfire heard in the video was confirmed to have originated from the IDF.'
TIME has reached out to the IDF for comment.
As of Tuesday, GHF said that it has distributed over 56.5 million meals to Palestinians in Gaza since the start of its operations. TIME has reached out to GHF regarding the videos and testimony from contractors.
This comes as over 170 charities and organizations, including Oxfam and Save The Children, have called for GHF to be shut down. Their joint statement issued June 30 says action must be taken to 'revert to the existing U.N.-led coordination mechanisms, and lift the Israeli government's blockade on aid and commercial supplies.'
The GHF distribution program came into place on May 27 after Israel initially let small amounts of U.N. aid into Gaza following an 11-week blockade of the strip. The new aid scheme was established after Israel accused Hamas of stealing aid entering the strip, which the United Nations said it found no credible evidence for.
'Under the Israeli government's new scheme, starved and weakened civilians are being forced to trek for hours through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones,' the organizations' statement says.
These concerns were echoed by Commissioner-General of The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, Philippe Lazzarini, on July 1. Lazzarini said that GHF 'provides nothing but starvation and gunfire to the people of Gaza. Under this new abomination, Gaza has gone from 400 aid distribution points to only four militarized distribution sites.'
Most of Gaza is now under Israeli controls after the resumption of military operations in the strip in May.
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Hamilton Spectator
20 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
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BEIRUT (AP) — It's as if the whole weight of Israel's war in Gaza has fallen on Amr al-Hams. The 3-year-old has shrapnel in his brain from an Israeli strike on his family's tent. His pregnant mother was killed. His father is paralyzed by grief over the death of his longtime sweetheart. Now the boy is lying in a hospital bed, unable to speak, unable to move, losing weight, while doctors don't have the supplies to treat his brain damage or help in his rehabilitation after a weekslong blockade and constant bombardment. Recently out of intensive care, Amr's frail body twists in visible pain. His wide eyes dart around the room. His aunt is convinced he's looking for his mother. He can't speak, but she believes he is trying to say 'mom.' 'I am trying as much as I can. It is difficult,' said his aunt Nour al-Hams, his main caregiver, sitting next to him on the bed in Khan Younis' Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. 'What he is living through is not easy.' 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San Francisco Chronicle
20 hours ago
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A boy in Gaza with brain damage fights for his life amid blockade
BEIRUT (AP) — It's as if the whole weight of Israel's war in Gaza has fallen on Amr al-Hams. The 3-year-old has shrapnel in his brain from an Israeli strike on his family's tent. His pregnant mother was killed. His father is paralyzed by grief over the death of his longtime sweetheart. Now the boy is lying in a hospital bed, unable to speak, unable to move, losing weight, while doctors don't have the supplies to treat his brain damage or help in his rehabilitation after a weekslong blockade and constant bombardment. Recently out of intensive care, Amr's frail body twists in visible pain. His wide eyes dart around the room. His aunt is convinced he's looking for his mother. He can't speak, but she believes he is trying to say 'mom.' 'I am trying as much as I can. It is difficult,' said his aunt Nour al-Hams, his main caregiver, sitting next to him on the bed in Khan Younis' Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. 'What he is living through is not easy.' 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The father and aunt had to take Amr, fresh out of ICU with the tube in his throat, in a motorized rickshaw for the 25-kilometer (15-mile) drive to Nasser Hospital. Amr was in pain, his oxygen levels dropped. He was in and out of consciousness. 'We were reading the Quran all along the road,' said his aunt, praying they would survive the bombings and Amr the bumpy trip without medical care. About halfway, an ambulance arrived. Amr made it to Nasser Hospital with oxygen blood levels so low he was again admitted to ICU. Unable to get the care he needs Still, Nasser Hospital could not provide Amr with everything he needed. Intravenous nutrients are not available, Nasser's head of pediatrics, Dr. Ahmed al-Farra, said. The fortified milk Amr needed disappeared from the market and the hospital after weeks of Israel's blockade. He has lost about half his weight. When he came out of the ICU, Nour shared his bed with him at night and administered his medication. She grinds rice or lentils into a paste to feed him through a syringe connected to his stomach. 'We have starvation in Gaza. There is nothing to eat,' said his aunt, who is a trained nurse. 'There is nothing left.' The care Amr has missed is likely to have long-term effects. Immediate care for brain injuries is critical, Haj-Hassan said, as is follow-up physical and speech therapy. Since the Israeli blockade on Gaza began in March, 317 patients, including 216 children, have left the territory for medical treatment alongside nearly 500 of their companions, according to the World Health Organization. Over 10,000 people, including 2,500 children, await evacuation. Amr is one of them. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of civilian affairs in Gaza, coordinates medical evacuations after receiving requests from countries that will take the patients and security screenings. 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