More Than 20 Gazans Killed Trying to Get Aid, Palestinian Authorities Say

More than 20 Gazans were killed as they made their way to a U.S.-Israeli aid distribution center, Palestinian health authorities said, the latest violence in a chaotic rollout of a new assistance program.

Crowds of hungry Gazans making their way to an aid distribution center in southern Gaza on Sunday morning were fired on by what appeared to be Israeli forces, said witnesses who spoke to The Wall Street Journal. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said it evacuated 23 dead and 23 injured people from the area.

An Israeli military official said troops fired warning shots toward crowds that approached them around a kilometer from a distribution center in Rafah. It said no shooting had taken place at the distribution site. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which oversees the new aid system, said no shooting took place at its distribution centers or in their immediate vicinity.

The shooting is the deadliest incident since the start of a new Israeli-backed aid-distribution system last week in Gaza. The system aims to bypass United Nations groups, which previously distributed the aid, and Hamas, which Israel accuses of taking control of aid. The U.S.-designated terrorist group denies seizing aid. On Tuesday, Israeli troops fired warning shots at crowds who broke into a distribution center.

Under the new system, aid is distributed to Gazans by a private U.S. security company. Israeli troops are stationed nearby. With aid supplies limited and only one of four planned distribution centers operating over the past few days, many Gazans have awaked before dawn to reach the center before limited supplies run out.

Abdullah Joudeh, 24, said he left his tent in Al Mawasi at 3 a.m. By the time he arrived at the Al Alam roundabout after 4 a.m., he could hear shooting from all directions.

“People started shouting, ‘Go back! Go back! There are so many dead ahead!’” Joudeh said, adding that he saw three people lying dead on the ground: “Every two minutes, we had to drop to the ground because of the bullets.”

Israel recently ended a more than two-month blockade on Gaza during which no aid, medicine or fuel entered the enclave, leading to widespread hunger, according to residents and aid groups. The U.S., Israel’s close ally, pushed Israel to lift the blockade.

But little aid has since reached Gazans, and many are surviving on just one meal a day. Some Gazans continued to rush toward the distribution center despite seeing people near them being shot.

“I saw people hit in the head; others shot in the leg,” said Issa Abu Audeh, 45, who is sheltering in Al Mawasi. He pressed forward, he said. By the time he reached the distribution square, he found nothing but empty boxes.

Hunger has spurred looting in recent days, including on Wednesday when people broke into a U.N. World Food Program warehouse in Deir al-Balah.

Muath Qeshta, 20, said that he had come to the distribution center in Rafah frequently this past week and that the crowds on Sunday were the largest he has seen.

“The distribution process is humiliating,” Qeshta said.

More than 20 countries and aid groups have criticized the new aid system, saying it puts people unnecessarily at risk and can’t meet the needs of the population. Most of the planned distribution sites are in southern Gaza, which makes reaching them difficult for those who live elsewhere.