At least 20 dead in a stampede at food lines in Gaza

BarcelonaThe gruesome tally of Palestinians killed while trying to obtain a minimum amount of food to survive continues to rise. This Wednesday, at least 20 people were killed at one of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) food distribution points in Khan Yunis, according to the organization itself. The GHF is the distribution mechanism implemented by Israel and the United States to bypass the United Nations system and the NGOs that have been working in Gaza for decades, and is managed by mercenary companies and private contractors with no humanitarian experience.

"We are heartbroken to confirm that 20 people were killed this morning in a tragic accident [...]. As far as we know, 19 of the victims were trampled and one was stabbed in the midst of a chaotic and dangerous stampede," the GHF said in a statement. "Agitators" among the crowd were "affiliated with Hamas."

This is the first time the agency has admitted to deaths at its distribution points, although numerous witnesses, including Israeli soldiers and GHF personnel, have reported that live ammunition was fired at people.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip's Health Ministry has provided another account of Wednesday's events. According to local authorities, at least 21 people died, 15 of them suffocated due to tear gas fired at Palestinians waiting to receive humanitarian aid and the ensuing stampede. "For the first time, deaths have been recorded due to asphyxiation and the intense stampede of citizens at aid distribution centers," the ministry stated.

Several witnesses have lent credibility to this version. The Associated Press reports that, according to several people present at the scene, GHF guards threw stun grenades and used pepper spray on people pushing to enter the center before it opened. "The Americans were shouting through loudspeakers to move back, but no one could because there were so many people," Ahmed Abu Amra explained to AP. "Everyone was on top of each other. We tried to get the people below out, but we couldn't. The Americans were throwing stun grenades at us," he added.

"We reached the gate and realized it was closed; there were thousands of people. The Americans fired tear gas into the crowd to disperse it, which caused a stampede and many people died from suffocation," another survivor explained on the network.

The Health Ministry has claimed that guards used tear gas, while the GHF has denied this and said its workers made "limited use of pepper spray."

In total, at least 51 people died in the Strip on Wednesday, according to local authorities. According to the Efe news agency, citing medical sources, the fatalities include at least one 6-year-old child and two infants.

Nearly 900 deaths in a month and a half

The GHF's aid distribution system has been rejected by all international organizations on the ground, and the UN has already called for an independent investigation into the hundreds of people who have died around these distribution points. In six weeks, at least 875 people have been killed. murdered when they were going to collect food, according to the latest count by the UN Human Rights Office, published yesterday. The majority (674) died near GHF distribution centers, which Palestinians have dubbed "killing points," while the rest were killed in aid distribution convoys run by other organizations.

The GHF has only four food distribution points open, all in central and southern Gaza, forcing the population further north to travel to get some food.

All of this is happening in the "hungriest" spot on the planet, according to the UN, which has defined the Gaza Strip as the only territory in the world where the entire population is at risk of starvation. In early July, more than 170 NGOs issued a joint statement, entitled "Hunger or Gunfire: This is Not a Humanitarian Response," calling for an end to the controversial aid distribution system implemented by the US and Israel.