Palestine: Dozens of Palestinians massacred at U.S.-Israel backed food distribution sites
Only a lasting ceasefire and the immediate opening of Gaza’s borders for humanitarian assistance can ease this crisis
On June 1, dozens of Palestinians were killed and hundreds more injured as they waited for food at the newly created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centres in Rafah and close to the Netzarim Corridor, according to the Ministry of Health. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams joined the mass casualty response in Nasser hospital, Khan Younis. Patients told MSF they were shot from all sides by drones, helicopters, boats, tanks and Israeli soldiers on the ground.
“Today’s events have shown once again that this new system of humanitarian assistance delivery is dehumanizing, dangerous and severely ineffective. It has resulted in deaths and injuries of civilians that could have been prevented,” says Claire Manera, MSF emergency coordinator. “Humanitarian assistance must be provided only by humanitarian organizations who have the competence and determination to do it safely and effectively.”
“People fought over five pallets. They told us to take food – then they fired from every direction. I ran 200 metres before realizing I’d been shot. This isn’t humanitarian assistance. It’s a lie. Are we supposed to go get food for our kids and die?”
Mansour Sami Abdi, a father of four
MSF teams at Nasser hospital treated patients with serious injuries. Some patients in critical condition are still undergoing surgery. But with the blood banks almost empty, medical staff themselves have had to donate blood.
“The hospital corridors were filled with patients, but unlike what I have witnessed before, where most of the patients were women and children, it was mainly men,” says Nour Alsaqa, MSF communications officer. “They lay in their beds in the hallways because the rooms are already packed with injured people. They had visible gunshot wounds in their limbs and their clothes were soaked with blood. They looked shattered and distraught after trying to secure food for their children, returning instead injured and empty-handed. Outside, there was shouting, sirens, a constant rush of new arrivals to the emergency room. Amid the chaos, we received confirmation that a colleague’s brother had been killed while attempting to collect humanitarian assistance from the distribution centre,” she says.
Mansour Sami Abdi, a father of four, describes the chaos: “People fought over five pallets. They told us to take food – then they fired from every direction. I ran 200 metres before realizing I’d been shot. This isn’t humanitarian assistance. It’s a lie. Are we supposed to go get food for our kids and die?”
“I was shot at 3:10 a.m. As we were trapped, I bled constantly until 5 a.m.,” says Mohammad Daghmeh, a displaced person in Al-Qarara, Khan Younis. “There were many other men with me. One of them tried to get me out. He was shot in the head and died on my chest. We had gone there for nothing but food – just to survive, like everyone else,” he says.
Since May 19, the few hundred food trucks brought in – an insufficient fraction of what is needed – have spread despair among the two million plus people who have been largely deprived of food, water and medication for three months now.
This is the second time this new system of humanitarian assistance distribution has led to bloodshed. On May 27, the first afternoon of distribution in Rafah, Israeli forces shot dozens of people as wholly insufficient amounts of basic lifesaving supplies were distributed amid chaos.
As a result of the total siege that was imposed by the Israeli authorities on March 2, 100 per cent of Gaza is now at risk of famine, according to the UN. Since May 19, the few hundred food trucks brought in – an insufficient fraction of what is needed – have spread despair among the two million plus people who have been largely deprived of food, water and medication for three months now. Totally or partially blocking humanitarian assistance to enter Gaza has aggravated the situation of all people.
MSF reinforces that, along with displacement orders and bombing campaigns that kill civilians, weaponizing assistance in this manner may constitute crimes against humanity. Only a lasting ceasefire and the immediate opening of Gaza’s borders for humanitarian assistance – including food, medical supplies, fuel and equipment – can ease this human-made catastrophe.
