In replay of scenes in Rafah, Israeli forces open fire at aid seekers at securitized center in central Gaza

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation opened another distribution site next to the Israeli-occupied Netsarim corridor on Thursday, offering boxed supplies to aid seekers at the heavily securitized site.

Thousands of people travelled to the distribution point, but according to eyewitnesses who spoke to Mada Masr, the operations were a replay of the danger and disorder that erupted at the US-based organization's other centers in southern Gaza earlier this week.

Israeli forces stationed nearby  repeatedly opened fire on the crowd at random, according to Nizar al-Hawajry, who travelled to the Netsarim site on Thursday and described the process as “inhumane” in comments to Mada Masr.

GHF, which was designated by Israel to manage aid distribution to Palestinians in Israeli-patrolled areas of Gaza, began operations in southern Gaza earlier this week. 

Chaos ensued at its initial sites in southern Gaza as thousands of aid seekers, who have endured months of Israeli siege, grew frustrated with long waits, invasive security checks and arrests rushed forward to seize the boxed supplies. Since the new aid distribution system came into effect, Israel’s military has opened fire on crowds at multiple points, causing four known fatalities, and forcibly disappeared at least a dozen aid seekers. “People are walking as though their hearts are blind, toward death,” an eyewitness said on Wednesday.

On Thursday, large crowds comprising thousands of people headed  toward the Netsarim corridor, a bulldozed and occupied zone separating the central Gaza areas of Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah from Gaza City to the north.

The corridor is known to be highly dangerous among locals due to the heavy Israeli military presence there, with multiple testimonies of murder, abduction and torture befalling Palestinians in and around Netsarim.

The new GHF distribution point was announced as a center for distributing aid to residents in central and northern Gaza.

One eyewitness who left Gaza City for Netsarim via the coastal road in the early hours of Thursday told Mada Masr that, upon reaching the vicinity of the Wadi Gaza bridge, south of the corridor, they saw that Israeli forces had constructed a paved pathway flanked by sand barriers, with tanks positioned on either side. Barriers mounted with surveillance cameras were set up to have civilians walk through them before going to the distribution point. 

US security personnel were also present beyond these barriers, directing the crowd into long lines once they crossed, the source said. Some food parcels were handed out.

Hawajry told Mada Mas that GHF had people wait for hours in overcrowded, disorganized conditions. Even during distribution, there was no system in place, leading to frustration and jostling.

The operating mechanism at the distribution site was degrading and lacked any proper organization — especially with Israeli forces stationed nearby firing every now and then at the crowd, according to Hawajry. The military used smoke grenades to disperse people and fired rounds at random, resulting in numerous injuries, he added.

Hundreds of thousands of people at the back of the queues eventually stormed the barriers. People began to flee as quadcopter drones started moving and opened fire on the crowd, which only escalated the chaos, Hawajry said.

Aid workers and security personnel evacuated the scene and the crowd broke into the site and took whatever they could. Incidents of theft and looting have become increasingly common in the strip due to widespread starvation brought on by the Israeli aid blockade..

GHF also continued to distribute supplies at at least one of its sites in Rafah on Thursday, people present at the scene told Mada Masr. Yasser Adwan told Mada Masr that the Rafah distribution site was set up in an inhumane manner, lacking even the most basic standards of dignity. He said residents were not officially notified when distribution would begin, but made their way to the site regardless.

The Rafah site had more barriers and metal cages than before, Adwan said. Movement was restricted to a designated path, flanked on one side by armed US personnel stationed alongside aid workers and food parcels, and by Israeli forces on the other side.

He described repeated outbreaks of chaos, with Israeli forces opening fire on civilians several times, injuring many, including children. The amount of aid distributed was not much, Adwan said, with only a small number of people receiving food parcels, while the rest couldn’t get any, which again led to disorder, forcing aid workers to evacuate and shut down the site.