Starving Gazans overrun US-backed food aid hub

Displaced Palestinians receive food packages from a US-backed foundation pledging to distribute humanitarian aid in western Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip — Gazans' 'desperation for food' after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade won out

(Image credit: AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

A controversial Gaza food aid operation backed by the U.S. and Israel descended into chaos Tuesday as thousands of Palestinians overwhelmed the newly formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's sole functioning distribution center. Nearby Israeli troops and tanks fired warning shots and helicopters shot flares as "desperate Palestinians" broke through a fence to get food, The Associated Press said.

Who said what

GHF said that after the number of Palestinians swelled at the Rafa hub, its staff "fell back" to "allow a small number of Gazans to take aid safely and dissipate," in line with established safety protocols. "There was some loss of control momentarily," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, but "happily, we brought it under control."

The United Nations and other aid groups are boycotting GHF, 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," the AP said. They also oppose the group's "use of facial recognition to vet recipients." Tuesday, "desperation for food" after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade trumped Gazans' "concern about biometric and other checks," Reuters said.

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What next?

GHF said it handed out 8,000 food boxes Tuesday, its second day of operation, but that constitutes "a mere trickle of assistance" given the vast need, The New York Times said. Meanwhile, unease over the war is building in Israel. "What we are doing in Gaza now is a war of extermination: indiscriminate, limitless, cruel and criminal killing of civilians," former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert wrote in Haaretz. "Israel is committing war crimes."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.