Gaza’s Ministry of Health has disputed the allegation
from the controversial United States- and Israel-backed organisation that armed agitators were responsible for the incident on Wednesday morning at the site in Khan Younis.
In an earlier statement, the GHF had said 19 victims were trampled and another was stabbed “amid a chaotic and dangerous surge”. Without providing any evidence, it said the stampede had been provoked by “elements within the crowd – armed and affiliated with Hamas”. The statement also claimed that GHF staff saw multiple weapons in the crowd and that one of its US contractors was threatened with a gun.
However, Palestinian witnesses and authorities have vehemently contested the GHF’s version of events.
One survivor told Al Jazeera,
“We were running like everyone else. We got to the gate and realized that it was closed, thousands of people were there. The Americans fired tear gas into the crowd to disperse them which caused a stampede and many people died while being crushed by the crowd”.
Gaza’s Health Ministry released a statement saying 21 Palestinians had been killed at the GHF site on Wednesday. It noted that 15 of the victims died as a result of a stampede and suffocation after tear gas was fired at crowds of aid seekers.
Since the GHF started operating in the enclave in late May, at least 875 people have been killed trying to get food, according to the United Nations, which said on Tuesday that 674 of these deaths had occurred “in the vicinity of GHF sites”.
Allahu Akhbar@Al Jazeera
The distrtibution of aid should be returned to UN control, if only to protect the civilian population from the bloodthirsty maniacs of GHF