UN blasts new US-backed aid distribution system in Gaza

Gaza City, Palestinian Territories: The UN on Wednesday condemned a US backed aid system in Gaza after 47 people were injured during a chaotic food di...

Gaza City, Palestinian Territories: The UN on Wednesday condemned a US-backed aid system in Gaza after 47 people were injured during a chaotic food distribution, where the Israeli military said it did not open fire at crowds.

The issue of aid has come sharply into focus amid a hunger crisis coupled with intense criticism of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a group that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory.

According to the UN, 47 people were injured in the mayhem that erupted on Tuesday when thousands of Palestinians desperate for food rushed into a GHF aid distribution site, while a Palestinian medical source said at least one had died.

Ajith Sunghay, the head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories, said most of the wounded had been hurt by gunfire, and based on the information he had, "it was shooting from the IDF" -- the Israeli military.

The Israeli military rejected the accusation, with Colonel Olivier Rafowicz telling AFP that Israeli soldiers "fired warning shots into the air, in the area outside" the centre managed by the GHF, and "in no case towards the people."