A controversial US-Israeli aid distribution scheme descended into chaos, as gunfire rang out while hungry and exhausted residents of Gaza rushed to get food after being forced to stand outside an aid facility.
According to journalists and eyewitnesses, the breakdown of order resulted from delays in security checks on the recipients, Middle East Eye reported for an earlier article.
The Israeli military denied firing on the crowds, but the Associated Press reported tank and gunfire at the distribution site, possibly due to warning shots fired by American mercenaries securing the facility.
Initially, there were no official reports of deaths or injuries. However, according to Arabic media, three were killed and 46 were wounded when the Israeli army fired into the crowds of people rushing to retrieve food packages.
The Israeli-American “aid” concentration camp collapses on its 1st day of operation
US mercenaries ran away & abandoned their positions as thousands of starved Gazans stormed the complex after being crowded like animals in a fenced cage all day, waiting for food
IDF opened fire… pic.twitter.com/5PaR1zT7Ju
— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) May 27, 2025
The Gaza government media office said: “Today’s events are clear evidence of the occupation’s failure to manage the humanitarian crisis it has deliberately created. Establishing ghettos for distributing limited aid is a deliberate policy aimed at sustaining starvation and dismantling society.”
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The organisation, established in February, has come under fierce criticism from United Nations officials, who had said its aid distribution plans, initiated by Israel and only involving private companies, would foster the displacement of Palestinians and more violence.
Many online criticised the aid distribution and the way it was handled on Tuesday.
The choice Trump and Israel have imposed on the people in Gaza is die from starvation or be killed trying to get food.
This is what famine and holocaust look like. https://t.co/sVJhaNPfMy pic.twitter.com/KlZzixfdO7— Ali (@MerruX) May 27, 2025
As American mercenaries fled the scene, thousands of starving Palestinians overran the caged checkpoint, creating chaos in the area.
The “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation”, designed to supplant Hamas rule, began operations today.
Starving Palestinians overran the caged checkpoint and took all supplies as American mercenaries fled the scene.
The scam failed, at least for today. pic.twitter.com/Y1ZcNd9A7r
— Dan Cohen (@dancohen3000) May 27, 2025
In the meantime, the head of the aid organisation, which said last week it was ready to start delivering food into Gaza, resigned on Monday, saying he did not believe it was possible for the organisation to operate independently or adhere to strict humanitarian principles.
Many on social media were outraged by Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, calling the aid distribution scheme “evil and barbaric”.
The way #Israel is treating the Palestinians in #Gaza starving and looking for food in their thousands is nothing short of barbaric and evil. It looks like the ‘company’ set up to distribute the tiny amounts of food has failed big way. The aid should be taken into Gaza in large… pic.twitter.com/SBosipJMll
— Professor Kamel Hawwash بروفيسور كامل إسحق الحواش (@kamelhawwash) May 27, 2025
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the images of thousands of starving Palestinians in Gaza running for aid as they were met with Israeli gunfire were “heartbreaking”.
“We and our partners have a detailed, principled, operationally sound plan supported by member states to get aid to a desperate population,” Dujarric told reporters on Tuesday.
On social media, many shared an image of Palestinians stuck behind fences with the hope of getting aid. “History won’t forget who watched and did nothing,” said one person on social media.
Starving Gazans packed behind fences for a scrap of aid. This isn’t relief—it’s humiliation and dehumanization by design.
History won’t forget who watched and did nothing. pic.twitter.com/cTZLG2OxBi
— Etan Nechin (@Etanetan23) May 27, 2025
According to a political analyst from Gaza, Muhammad Shehada, the contents of the aid packs were almost entirely Israeli products, and he said Israel is “profiting from” this aid scheme.
🚨Israel is profiting big time from its genocide: the meager aid packs a few Gazans received today were almost entirely Israeli products with visible Hebrew writing on
So this shell Israeli-American mercenary group is helping Israel make some money from starving Gaza to death! pic.twitter.com/YSUsq311xk
— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) May 27, 2025
Over the last 80 days of Israel’s blockade, hunger-related deaths among Palestinians have climbed to 58. In the same period, another 242 people, primarily children and elderly individuals, have lost their lives due to the lack of food and medical care.
Since early March, Israel has effectively halted nearly all aid from reaching Gaza, pushing almost the entire population of 2.1 million Palestinians to the edge of famine, with no access to essential medicine or fuel.
This worsening crisis has triggered growing international condemnation, even drawing rare and sharp criticism from Israel’s key western allies, such as the UK, Canada, France and Germany.
On Sunday, a four-year-old boy died in Gaza City from severe malnutrition caused by Israel’s total blockade of the strip.
