Why are hundreds of Palestinians getting killed trying to access food in Gaza?
CBC
The floor of Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza is streaked with fresh blood as 146 injured Palestinians lie there waiting to be treated after people were shot while trying to reach an aid distribution site for food.
The scene Tuesday was the latest in nearly daily violent incidents near aid centres one month after distribution was taken over by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
The U.S.- and Israeli-backed GHF has drawn controversy since replacing UN-run relief operations in Gaza for using private American contractors and forcing people past Israel Defence Forces soldiers on the perimeter to reach these hubs.
As of Wednesday, 549 people have been killed and more than 4,000 have been injured while attempting to reach GHF sites or waiting for other aid trucks to arrive since the new system began operating on May 27, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
"We went to go get food for our children," Mahmoud Abu Armana, 26, told CBC News Tuesday.
"They said the [road] opened so the vehicles went in and they started to fire upon the people walking. We were running … the [Israeli military] were spraying us down with their guns. People started to lay on top of one another.
"They were supposedly opening the distribution centre and told people to come and grab [the aid]. Why are they executing us?"
Hospital officials say 19 deaths Tuesday resulted from gunfire.
Israel's military said that a gathering overnight was identified adjacent to forces operating in Gaza's central Netzarim Corridor, and it was reviewing reports of casualties.
The deaths come as humanitarian groups and UN agencies continue to slam the distribution system, saying it forces people to risk their lives by entering combat zones where they are repeatedly fired upon while trying to access food.
Civilans and health officials in Gaza have largely blamed the deaths on the Israeli military. Multiple people have told CBC News on the ground in Gaza that they have been fired upon by the Israeli forces just several kilometres away from the GHF sites.
Israel's military has said in connection with several incidents that it fired warning shots at people who approached its forces near aid sites.
Palestinian gangs have also been blamed by witnesses for some of the violence that erupts near the areas where aid is expected to arrive.
The Red Cross said the "vast majority" of patients who arrived at its Gaza field hospital during mass casualty incidents in the past month had reported that they were wounded while trying to access aid at or around distribution points.
