What to Know About the Deaths at Controversial Gaza Aid Distribution Sites

The United Nations says that at least 613 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza while collecting aid since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) started operating in the strip on May 27, 509 of whom were at centers set up by GHF. GHF is a controversial U.S. company backed by Israel to be the major distributor of aid in Gaza. The new aid distribution plan has been heavily criticized by the U.N. for its inaccessibility. Three of GHF’s distribution points are in southern Gaza, making it a long and difficult journey through militarized zones for many Palestinians. “From where I am, you have to walk 20 kilometers there and back, carrying food. Just the strongest and fastest can get there,” Oday Basheer, who lives in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, told TIME in June.   “The weaponization of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime,” spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights Office Thameen Al Keetan said in June. One main controversy surrounding the organization is its use of private security personnel, as well as private logistics companies to facilitate aid entering Gaza and its distribution. Gunfire towards Palestinians in search of aid has repeatedly been reported, with witnesses claiming shots fired by Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers.  The IDF has previously said on multiple occasions that it has fired warning shots in the direction of suspects approaching troops, and that it has been examining further reports of civilian casualties at aid sites. Since GHF aid centers began operations, there have been at least 18 incidents of violence in which Palestinians have been killed at the aid centers, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, its Civil Defense Agency, and health workers in Gaza. On Thursday, the Associated Press (AP) reported that two anonymous U.S. contractors working with GHF said that guards at aid sites were using stun grenades, pepper spray, and live minution as Palestinians collected aid.  Video provided by one the contractors, published by the AP, also shows tightly-packed crowds of people jostling for aid with the sounds of gunfire and stun grenades nearby that appear to panic the crowds. In Brussels this week, prior to the AP’s report, GHF chairman Johnnie Moore said: “We have not had a single violent incident in our distribution sites…[or] in close proximity to our distribution sites.” “There is an unbelievable effort around the world to try to shut down our operation. We will not be shut down,” he added.  GHF said in a statement on Thursday July 3 that the reporting from The Associated Press is “categorically false” and that “at no point were civilians under fire at a GHF distribution site. The gunfire heard in the video was confirmed to have originated from the IDF.”  TIME has reached out to the IDF for comment.  As of Tuesday, GHF said that it has distributed over 56.5 million meals to Palestinians in Gaza since the start of its operations. TIME has reached out to GHF regarding the videos and testimony from contractors. This comes as over 170 charities and organizations, including Oxfam and Save The Children, have called for GHF to be shut down. Their joint statement issued June 30 says action must be taken to “revert to the existing U.N.-led coordination mechanisms, and lift the Israeli government’s blockade on aid and commercial supplies.” The GHF distribution program came into place on May 27 after Israel initially let small amounts of U.N. aid into Gaza following an 11-week blockade of the strip. The new aid scheme was established after Israel accused Hamas of stealing aid entering the strip, which the United Nations said it found no credible evidence for.  “Under the Israeli government’s new scheme, starved and weakened civilians are being forced to trek for hours through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones,” the organizations’ statement says. These concerns were echoed by Commissioner-General of The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, Philippe Lazzarini, on July 1. Lazzarini said that GHF “provides nothing but starvation and gunfire to the people of Gaza. Under this new abomination, Gaza has gone from 400 aid distribution points to only four militarized distribution sites.” Most of Gaza is now under Israeli controls after the resumption of military operations in the strip in May.