The Palestinian death toll near aid distribution sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) surpassed 700 on Saturday, July 19, after at least 32 people were killed attempting to get food. Those deaths are in addition to the 674 people who have died in the vicinity of GHF sites since the U.S.- and Israeli-backed group began its controversial aid operation some six weeks ago.
Death toll near GHF sites tops 700
According to reporting from The Associated Press, a group of Palestinians gathered roughly 2 miles from a GHF site in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis in the early morning Saturday, before the site was open. There, witnesses say the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) fired warning shots before opening fire and shooting people “indiscriminately,” as one witness described it.
Another witness said that more shooting occurred after the site opened, as people ran to secure aid. “Is this food or death? Why? They don’t talk with us, they only shoot us,” Sanaa al-Jaberi said.
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While GHF said there were no incidents at or near its sites on Saturday, the Israeli Defense Forces acknowledged firing warning shots near another distribution site in the southern city of Rafah. That incident occurred before the site opened. The IDF told the BBC it fired the shots at a group of “suspects” who were approaching troops and failed to stop advancing when told to.
Deaths at or near GHF sites have been a weekly occurrence since May 27, when the U.S.-based group was tapped by the Israeli government to assume control of Gaza’s aid distribution. That decision was met with condemnation from the international community and other aid organizations, including the United Nations.
Both the Israeli military and GHF have said that Hamas loots or siphons off aid meant for Palestinian civilians, though neither has provided evidence to support the claims.
GHF has only acknowledged deaths near its sites once before –– this past Wednesday, July 16, when it says 20 people were killed during a stampede. GHF blamed the deaths on Hamas.
Medical staff at a nearby hospital said the victims showed signs of being crushed and suffocated due to the use of tear gas. While GHF denied using “tear gas,” specifically, the organization did say pepper spray was used in a limited and controlled manner to prevent further harm.
For its part, the IDF acknowledged on June 30 that its forces had harmed civilians attempting to get aid. At the time, the military said it had issued new instructions based on “lessons learned.”
Speaking to Reuters on Saturday, Gaza resident Mohammed al-Khalidi said he was part of the group that approached the site in Rafah.
“We thought they came out to organize us so we can get aid, suddenly (I) saw the jeeps coming from one side, and the tanks from the other and started shooting at us,” he said.
According to the BBC, al-Khalidi added, “It wasn’t shots that were to scare us or to organize us, it was shots that were targeted to kill us, if they wanted to organize us they would have, but they meant to kill us.”
The U.N. Human Rights Office said Tuesday, July 15, that deaths connected to GHF began May 27, the day the group started distributing food in the war-torn region. As of July 13, the death toll in the “vicinity” of GHF sites stood at 674. With Saturday’s 32 deaths, the number is now 706.
Lifting a ban on international media
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation operates four distribution sites in the enclave, all of which lie within Israeli-controlled zones that are cut off from independent monitors. That makes it difficult to verify or corroborate accounts of what happened.
On Friday, July 18, UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini called on Israel to lift its ban on international media.
“650 days of atrocities against civilians with no international media allowed in,” Lazzarini wrote on X, adding that more than 200 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the start of the war.
“Media ban fuels dis-information campaigns questioning first-hand data and accounts from eyewitnesses and international humanitarian organizations,” he concluded.
Malnutrition, energy crisis grip the Strip
Aside from the deaths at or near GHF aid distribution sites, Palestinians also continue to be killed in airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, while scores of children in the region face acute malnutrition.
In a report published Saturday by the Yemeni news agency Saba, Dr. Munir al-Barsh, director-general of the Gaza Health Ministry, said that 70,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition, and more than 250,000 are facing “advanced levels of food insecurity.”
It’s a fact echoed by UNRWA’s Lazzarini, who wrote on X earlier this week that one in 10 children screened at the agency’s medical facilities is malnourished.
Those issues are further exacerbated by a fuel crisis gripping Gaza, which is effecting everything from health services and emergency response to solid waste collection.
“With every day that passes, people have less clean water and healthcare and more sewage flooding ground floors,” the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs wrote Friday.
Israel’s ceasefires
For more than a week, delegations from Israel and Hamas have been working with mediators from Qatar and Egypt on a 60-day ceasefire proposal backed by the U.S., though there have been few signs of a potential breakthrough.
Meanwhile, Israel is attempting to maintain a separate ceasefire it agreed to with Syria early Saturday. However, fighting has continued between the Syrian-backed Bedouin tribes and the Druze, whom Israel had previously launched airstrikes in support of.
