A crush at an aid centre in southern Gaza killed at least 20 people on Wednesday, with the site’s operator blaming “Hamas operatives” within the crowd and the Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency attributing the panic to Israeli gunfire.
It was the first time that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by the United States and Israel, acknowledged deaths at one of its distribution sites after weeks of chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Palestinians being killed nearby while waiting to collect rations.
AFP footage showed lifeless bodies taken to a nearby hospital in the city of Khan Yunis, with some placed on the floor and others on already-bloodied beds.
Abdullah Alian, a witness, said that mayhem unfolded as the crowd of aid-seekers was hit with stun grenades and pepper spray.
“When they saw people starting to die on the ground and people on top of each other suffocating, they opened the gate and people started climbing on top of each other.”
It was not clear whether he was referring to US contractors securing GHF sites, Israeli forces or another party.
Paramedic Ziad Farhat said that after more than 21 months of devastating war, “there are not enough hospitals for the injured or the martyrs”.
“Enough of the tragedies that we are living.”
The latest deaths came as indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas were ongoing, aiming to seal a deal for a 60-day ceasefire, the release of hostages held in Gaza and the unfettered flow of much-needed aid into the territory.
Hamas has accused Israel of wanting to retain long-term military control of Gaza — a key sticking point in the talks, which are now in their second week in Qatar.
‘Stampede’
The GHF said that 19 of those killed on Wednesday “were trampled and one was stabbed amid a chaotic and dangerous surge”.
Spokesman Chapin Fay later told a briefing that the deadly incident was “instigated by armed Hamas operatives who infiltrated a civilian crowd and deliberately incited chaos”.
He denied the use of tear gas or that shots were fired into the crowd.
“Limited use of pepper spray was deployed only to protect against additional loss of life,” Fay said, adding that “warning shots were fired into the air at one point when GHF personnel identified that a child was being trampled”.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 20 people were killed in the incident, blaming it on fire from Israeli troops.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that thousands had gathered at the site when “Israeli forces opened fire and used (tear) gas, causing panic and a stampede after aid centre guards closed the main gates in front of the hungry crowd”.
The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment. The GHF, an officially private effort, began operations on May 26 as Israel eased a two-month aid blockade that had sparked warnings of famine.
On Tuesday, the UN said it had recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food since late May, including 674 “in the vicinity of GHF sites”.
Last week, UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters that “most of the injuries are gunshot injuries”.
The GHF — accused by aid organisations of catering to Israeli military needs — has denied that fatal shootings have occurred in the immediate vicinity of its aid points, and the Israeli army has accused Hamas of firing at civilians, though witnesses have blamed the military.
No progress
Speaking in Gaza on Wednesday, Israel’s army chief Eyal Zamir said that “in the coming days, we will know whether or not we have an agreement” in the ongoing truce negotiations, according to a military statement.
A Palestinian source close to the negotiations earlier told AFP there had been “no progress so far”.
If a deal is not reached, Israel will “intensify and expand combat operations as much as possible, beyond what we are currently doing”, Zamir said.
The war was sparked by Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed 58,573 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.