Thousands of Palestinians overran a new food aid site in southern Gaza on Tuesday, just hours after it began operating.
According to reports, the incident occurred at one of two Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution centers that opened Tuesday in Rafah. Footage shared online showed crowds pushing through fences and grabbing boxes of food.
JUST IN 🔴
The GHF Foundation, which is distributing food in Gaza, says Gaza residents struggled to reach the distribution center due to roadblocks set up by Hamxs that delayed access.
IDF, why no birds in the air? Why did you allow this to happen? pic.twitter.com/cbtk8VJkCw
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 27, 2025
Open-source reports stated that American security staff were unable to manage the crowd and withdrew from their position. Soon after, helicopters were heard overhead, along with unconfirmed reports of gunfire.
🚨🚨 #BREAKING: Reports: at one of the distributions centers, The American company personnel failed to control the people and retreated from one of the positions, after which they began to hear helicopters in the air, including reports of gunfire. pic.twitter.com/XiVXp48kPe
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) May 27, 2025
Hamas-run media accused Israeli forces of killing three people and wounding dozens. However, the GHF rejected these claims and said that there were no casualties.
The GHF in turn accused Hamas of setting up roadblocks that delayed residents from reaching the aid center. Hamas denied these accusations and instead attributed the chaos to “mismanagement” by the GHF.
“This resulted in thousands of hungry people rushing out under the pressure of the siege and hunger, then storming the distribution centers and seizing food, interspersed with gunfire from the Israeli occupation,” Hamas-run Government Media Office in Gaza said.
The GHF was created to assume control of food distribution in Gaza, replacing the United Nations-led aid efforts that have struggled to meet the needs of residents amid ongoing shortages of food, fuel, medicine, and other essentials since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began in October 2023.
Israeli officials defended the new system, claiming it is necessary to prevent Hamas from diverting supplies and deliberately starving the population.
However, critics including the U.N. and various humanitarian groups argue that Israel is using aid as a tool to pressure Palestinians into relocating from northern Gaza to the south, to tighten its grip on the region.
The GHF began operations just days after Israel allowed a limited amount of food into Gaza, following nearly three months of an aid blockade on the enclave. On its first day, the foundation reported distributing approximately 8,000 food boxes, equivalent to around 462,000 meals, to Palestinians in Gaza.
