DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least 47 Palestinians were wounded, mostly by gunfire, when a crowd overran a new Gaza aid hub set up by a U.S. and Israeli-backed foundation, a U.N. official said Wednesday.
Ajith Sunghay, head of the U.N. Human Rights Office for the Palestinian territories, told reporters in Geneva that it appeared Israeli army fire had caused most of the injuries.
On Tuesday, crowds of Palestinians broke through fences and an Associated Press journalist heard Israeli tank and gun fire, and saw a military helicopter firing flares.
The distribution hub outside Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah was opened the day before by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been slated by Israel to take over aid operations.
The U.N. and other humanitarian organizations have rejected the new system, saying it won’t be able to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and allows Israel to use food as a weapon to control the population. They have also warned of the risk of friction between Israeli troops and people seeking supplies.
Palestinians have become desperate for food after nearly three months of Israeli border closures pushed Gaza to the brink of famine.
Israel says it helped establish the new aid mechanism to prevent Hamas from siphoning off supplies, but it has provided no evidence of systematic diversion and U.N. agencies say they have mechanisms in place to prevent it.
GHF says it has established four hubs, two of which have begun operating. They are guarded by private security contractors and have chain-link fences channeling Palestinians into a what resemble military bases surrounded by large sand berms. GHF said its military contractors had not fired on the crowd but “fell back” before resuming operations.
Israeli forces are stationed nearby in what Israel refers to as the Morag corridor, a military zone separating the southern city of Rafah — which is now mostly uninhabited — from the rest of the territory.
The U.N. and other humanitarian groups have refused to participate in GHF’s system, saying it violates humanitarian principles. They say it can be used by Israel to forcibly displace the population by requiring them to move near the few distribution hubs or else face starvation, a violation of international law.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that “there was some loss of control momentarily” at the distribution point, adding that “happily, we brought it under control.”
He repeated that Israel plans to move Gaza’s entire population to a “sterile zone” at the southern end of the territory while troops fight Hamas elsewhere.
Throughout the war, the U.N. and other aid groups have conducted a massive operation distributing food, medicine and other supplies to wherever Palestinians are located. Israel says GHF will replace that network, but the past week has allowed a trickle of aid to enter Gaza for the U.N. to distribute.
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Magdy reported from Cairo and Keaten from Geneva.
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