Chaos and gunfire after month of Gaza aid plan

In the four weeks that followed the launch of a controversial aid system supported by the United States and Israeli in Gaza, there were repeated incidents of murders and injuries of Palestinians in search of aid.

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health managed by Hamas, in the last month, more than 500 people on their way to obtain aid were killed and 4,000 injured.

To better understand how last month took place, BBC Verify analyzed dozens of Gaza videos through Gaza which offer an overview of what this field aid system looked like. Images show an almost daily cycle of chaos, panic, live shots and Palestinians who are dead or injured.

Although the videos show a global image of danger and chaos, they do not definitively show who is responsible for dismissal in each incident. However, in many cases, eyewitnesses and doctors have described Israeli forces opening fire on crowds near help sites.

In the statements in the last month, Israeli Defense Forces (FDI) said on several occasions that they had fired “warning” on individuals they have described as “suspects” or said they had a threat.

The FDI told the BBC verify that Hamas does “everything that is in its power to prevent the success of food distribution in Gaza, tries to disturb the aid and directly harms the citizens of the Gaza Strip”.

On May 18, Israel announced that he was partially going to his blockade of 11 weeks of help in Gaza, which, according to him, aimed to put pressure on Hamas to release hostages.

The IDF has built four aid distribution sites – three in the far southwest of Gaza and one in the center of Gaza by an Israeli security area known as the Netzarim corridor – which began its operations on May 26.

These sites in FDI controlled areas – known as SDS 1, 2, 3 and 4 – are operated by safety entrepreneurs working for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the Israeli army securing routes to them and perimeters. On Thursday, the United States Department of State announced $ 30 million (22 million pounds sterling; 26 million euros) in funding for the GHF – the first direct contribution known to the group.

From the start, the UN condemned the plan, claiming that it “militarizes” would help, would bypass the existing distribution network and oblige Gazans to make long trips through a dangerous territory to obtain food.

In the days following the start of the plan, dozens of Palestinians were killed in distinct incidents on June 1 and 3, arousing international condemnation. Since then, there have been daily reports of murders of people traveling to collect aid.

The FDIs said that its “forces carry out systematic learning processes aimed at improving the operational response in the area and minimizing possible friction between the population and the forces of TDI”.

Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer described as reports as killed while obtaining a “another lie” aid. “There were not hundreds of people who die.”

The GHF denied that there have been “incidents or deaths from or near” one of its distribution sites.

On Tuesday, the Red Cross said that its hospital on the Rafah field had to activate its mass procedures 20 times since May 27, the vast majority of patients undergoing ball injuries and saying that they were on the way to a help site.

The UN and its global food program as well as other aid providers continue to try to distribute aid to Gaza, but they say they depend on the Israeli authorities to facilitate their missions.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the murder of the Palestinians who is trying to access aid was a “probable war crime”. The international human rights lawyer, Sara Elizabeth Dill, told the BBC verified that if there had been intentional targeting of civilians, this could constitute a serious violation of international law.

“Mass shootings during access to civilians alleviates the basic rules against the targeting of civilians and the use of famine against them, potentially rising to war crimes,” she said.

Three videos, the first of which were published on June 9, showed hundreds of people, some of which appear to be empty bags of flour, rushing on mounticuses of rubble and hiding in ditches. Several automatic shots can be heard.

That day, the Ministry of Health managed by Hamas reported that six people had been killed that morning when he asked for help and more than 99 injured. The next day, he reported 36 deaths linked to aid and more than 208 injuries.

It is not possible to check whether one of these victims was the result of the gunshots that could be heard in the images.

We were able to confirm that the videos were filmed at around 4 km (2.5 miles) northwest of SDS4, on the way to the site of the Gaza center.

Audio analysis of Steve Beck’s shots, a former FBI consultant who now directs Beck Audio Forensics, said that one of the firearms looked like and shot prices in accordance with the Minimi FN machine gun and the M4 assault rifle. The second pistol, said Beck, shot on a rhythm that was “compatible” with the sound of an AK-47. We cannot establish what weapons were pulling, but FN Minmis and M4 are commonly used by FDI, while AK-47s are generally used by Hamas and other groups in Gaza.

In images published the next day, June 10, and filmed nearby, more crowds were seen in panic like the sound of shots, followed by what looks like an explosion, was heard in the distance. Wounds and straps, including children, were then seen.

GHF has cards showing “safe passages” on its sites and communicates opening times via WhatsApp and social media.

Each passage has a “starting point” and a “” stop point “with the Palestinians warned that they should not cross the latter before the indication. The GHF said that these corridors were secured by the FDI and warned people that the crossing of these stops, unless, can be dangerous.

But in SDS4, no safe passage has been provided for people from the north.

There have also been murders close to assistance sites not linked to GHF.

Verified images of June 17 showed at least 21 bodies and several people injured on a road on which several vehicles, including a strongly damaged tray truck, were parked.

Witnesses told the BBC that the TSAhal drones and a reservoir had fired on the crowd while they were waiting to collect aid.

A TSA declaration acknowledged that it had identified a “rally” of people “adjacent to a aid distribution truck which was stuck in the Khan Yunis region, and near the FDI troops operating in the region”.

He said: “The FDI is aware of the reports concerning a number of people injured in Fid Fire after the crowd approach.” He expressed his regret for “all prejudice to uninvited individuals” and said that the details of the incident were being examined.

A spokesperson for the Civil Defense Agency led by Gaza said that at least 50 people had been killed on the scene.

The video shows a number of deaths around the burning marks on the ground, including a person with the puffed legs.

Mark Cancian, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted the lack of obvious impact crater, but told us that the extent of damage was probably the result of “a lot of direct fire”.

Another video published on June 16, which we checked, shows bodies drawn on a cart by a horse along rue Al-Rashid in the north of Gaza, the main coastal road and often used by convoys of assistance.

The legend alongside the video claims that these Palestinians were killed while waiting for help.

The next day, several photos and videos that we checked were published on the social networks located nearby showing a body worn by several men on a wooden palette along the same road.

The GHF said that many of the alleged incidents were linked to convoys and distribution sites for other groups, including the UN. He said these assistance supplies were “pounded by criminals and bad actors”.

A GHF spokesperson said he was generally “satisfied” with his first month of operation, with 46 million meals distributed to two million gasans, but aimed to increase his capacity.

The IDF said that, among other modifications, it installs fences and signs and opening additional routes.

“We have raised concerns [with the IDF] On the maintenance of a safe passage for assistant seekers, but unfortunately, some tried to take dangerous shortcuts or trips during restricted times, “said GHF spokesperson.

“In the end, the solution is more help, which will create more certainty and less emergency among the population.”

Additional report and verification by Paul Brown, Emma Pengelly, Altalebi blade, Richard Irvine-Brown, Benedict Garman, Alex Murray, Kumar Malhotra and Thomas Spencer.