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Key Points
- Aid centres run by the GHF, an agency supported by both the US and Israel, will shut temporarily on Wednesday.
- There are allegations against the Israeli military for firing into crowds of civilians gathering to collect aid near GHF centres.
- The UN has called for accountability.
Aid centres operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US and Israel-supported organisation, will close temporarily on Wednesday for renovation, the foundation stated.
“June 4, distribution centres will close for renovation, reorganisation, and efficiency enhancement,” GHF announced on Facebook.
Distribution of aid will resume on Thursday, they noted.
The Israeli military confirmed this temporary closure.
“Travel is prohibited on roads leading to the distribution centres tomorrow [Wednesday], which are considered combat zones,” Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted on social media.
An officially private effort with opaque funding, GHF started operations on 26 May after Israel completely cut off supplies into Gaza for over two months, sparking warnings of mass famine.
But GHF’s first week of operations, during which it claimed to have distributed more than seven million meals’ worth of food, has been marred by criticism.
The Israeli military faces allegations of shooting into crowds of civilians rushing to pick up aid packages near GHF sites —Palestinian authorities say dozens have been killed.
Israeli authorities and the GHF — which uses contracted US security to deliver aid — denied any such incident had taken place.
The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
For decades, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, had spearheaded aid distribution in Gaza, with dozens of other organisations participating in efforts to assist the population.
Israel accused UNRWA of providing cover for Hamas militants, claiming some of the agency’s employees took part in the group’s 7 October 2023 attack.
A UN investigation later found nine UNRWA staff may have been involved in the Hamas attack.
The agency fired them but said Israel had not provided evidence of more widespread involvement by its staff.
Gazans killed seeking aid
Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that on Tuesday, 27 people were killed in southern Gaza when Israeli troops fired near a US-backed aid centre; Israel’s military is investigating the incident.
UN secretary-general António Guterres decried the deaths of Palestinians seeking food aid as “unacceptable”, and the world body’s rights chief condemned attacks on civilians as “a war crime” following a similar shooting near the same site on Sunday.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence agency, said tanks, drones and helicopters opened fire about a kilometre from a GHF site.
It is the third such incident in three days.
Some 31 Palestinians were killed on 1 June, and three more the following day, according to Palestinian health authorities.
All incidents reportedly occurred near newly established aid hubs in southern Gaza.
Brigadier General Effie Defrin, spokesperson for the Israeli army, noted that troops only fired warning shots at individuals who left safe corridors and posed a threat.
Jeremy Laurence, a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office, called for accountability.
“Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza are unconscionable,” he said.
“For a third day running, people were killed around an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.”
He said the UN issued clear warnings about it.
“Palestinians have been presented the grimmest of choices: die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available through Israel’s militarised humanitarian assistance mechanism.
“This militarised system endangers lives and violates international standards on aid distribution, as the United Nations has repeatedly warned.”
— With additional reporting from Agence France-Presse
