Staff at Gaza aid center shot hungry Palestinians

According to BBC, chaos, violence, and lack of accountability prevail in humanitarian aid centers.

A former security worker at newly established aid distribution centers in Gaza—supported by the US and Israel and considered controversial—told the BBC that his colleagues repeatedly opened fire on starving civilians who posed no threat.

He said in one incident, a guard stationed in a watchtower fired a machine gun at a group consisting of women, children, and the elderly simply because they were moving too slowly. “At that moment, another staff member, positioned on a slope, fired 15–20 times with an automatic weapon. One Palestinian fell and didn’t move again. Another guard laughed and said, ‘Wow, I think you got one,’” the witness recalled.

In response to these accusations, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) denied the claims as "completely false." In an official statement, they said no civilian had been targeted at aid centers. GHF described the worker as a “disgruntled former contractor dismissed for indiscipline.” However, the witness presented pay slips confirming he was paid for two weeks after leaving the job.

GHF began distributing aid in southern and central Gaza at the end of May. The system was introduced following an 11-week full blockade during which no food was allowed into the Gaza Strip. However, according to the UN and local doctors, more than 400 Palestinians trying to obtain food from GHF centers were killed by Israeli forces.

GHF said its system aimed to deliver aid "not to Hamas, but directly to the needy population." The Israeli military, in turn, stated that civilians are not being deliberately targeted.

According to the former staffer, there were no clear rules, action protocols, or mechanisms to ensure civilian safety within the centers. “If you sense a threat – shoot, kill, and ask questions later,” one team leader reportedly said.

He added that each center had surveillance cameras, and he called GHF’s statement that no one had been shot “an outright lie.”

In his view, there was discriminatory treatment of Palestinians within GHF: their human dignity was denied. “They used to call them a ‘zombie crowd,’” he recalled.

He also claimed that aid recipients were often tear-gassed, hit by grenade shrapnel, or injured by wire fences during stampedes. One woman, he said, lost consciousness after a grenade shell struck her head.

More than 170 international organizations, including Oxfam and Save the Children, have called for GHF operations to be suspended. Their statement noted that military and armed groups are regularly shooting at civilians trying to access aid.

GHF, however, said it had distributed over 52 million food portions within five weeks and criticized other organizations for failing to protect their aid. Read 'Zamin' on Telegram!