At least 20 Palestinians have been killed in a crush at a food distribution site in southern Gaza run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to Palestinian health authorities and witnesses. The incident occurred after GHF guards used teargas or pepper spray on hungry crowds arriving at the centre near Khan Younis.
Nineteen people were crushed and one stabbed in the chaotic surge, GHF said in a statement. The Gaza health ministry reported 15 deaths from suffocation after teargas was fired at the crowd. Dr Mohammed Zaqqout, director of hospitals for Gaza, said all 15 arrived at the hospital dead with symptoms of suffocation including blue marks and vomiting.
Witness Abdel Ghani Rouqa said his 20-year-old nephew Mohammad was among the dead, describing how people were forced to go to dangerous areas for food. He stated that the Israeli army had narrowed the area and created passages, and that panic broke out when the army fired teargas canisters at the densely packed crowd, leading to the crush.
GHF rejected these accounts, instead blaming the incident on Hamas. Spokesperson Chapin Fay said no teargas was deployed but pepper spray was used to protect against loss of life. He claimed armed Hamas agitators infiltrated the crowd, and that a GHF medic was stabbed with an ice pick-like weapon. Fay said 19 victims were trampled to death and one died from stab wounds.
The deaths come amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, where Israeli attacks have killed more than 58,000 people, mostly civilians. On Tuesday, 13 members of the same family were killed in an Israeli airstrike in eastern Gaza City. Israeli forces have killed at least 800 Palestinians attempting to access food since GHF began operations in late May.
