Israeli soldiers have fired shots to disperse the thousands who thronged the aid centre seeking food.
Thousands of Palestinians have overwhelmed a food distribution centre in southern Gaza, driven by hunger after nearly three months without access to fresh supplies.
It was a chaotic scene on Tuesday in the southern city of Rafah, as men, women and children thronged the aid centre, seeking food to stave off malnutrition and starvation.
Israeli soldiers used gunfire to disperse the desperate crowds, as they tugged at the fences separating them from food boxes. Gaza’s Government Media Office reported that three Palestinians were killed and 46 wounded at the site. Several more remained missing.
Starting on March 2, Israel had imposed a total blockade on aid into war-torn Gaza, as part of the military offensive it began in the Palestinian enclave in October 2023.
As fears of famine grew, so too did international pressure on Israel. Allies including the United Kingdom, France and Canada warned Israel earlier this month that it could face sanctions if aid restrictions were not lifted.
Days later, Israel announced it would allow “minimal” deliveries of essential supplies to resume.
This month, the UN reported that 57 children have died of malnutrition since the start of the blockade on March 2. [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]
Experts with the UN have called the situation in Gaza ‘one of the world’s worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time’. [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]
The aid centre run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been controversial, in part due to its ties to Israel and its ally, the US. [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]
Some Palestinians arrived at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s aid centre with cars, carts or mules, in order to better transport much-needed supplies. [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]
Fears of famine as a result of the aid blockade has amplified the pressure on Israel to allow food and other basic supplies to reach Gaza’s people. [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]
Critics fear the limited aid entering Gaza will be insufficient to cover the needs of the more than 2 million residents living in the Palestinian territory. [Hatem Khaled/Reuters]
Israel only recently began allowing limited aid shipments into Gaza to resume, after imposing a total blockade in March. [Hatem Khaled/Reuters]
The packages included food supplies like rice, cooking oil, biscuits and canned food, though Al Jazeera journalist Hind Khoudary said one box was unlikely to feed a family for long. [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]
Organisers were forced to briefly close the distribution centre, as aid-seekers rushed the site out of hunger. [Hatem Khaled/Reuters]
Cardboard boxes packed with thousands meals were prepared for distribution as the aid site opened. [Hatem Khaled/Reuters]
Thousands of Palestinians showed up at an aid centre on Tuesday set up by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. [Hatem Khaled/Reuters]
A child cradles a bottle of cooking oil outside an aid distribution site in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 27. [Hatem Khaled/Reuters]
