Israeli troops fire warning shots as Palestinians overwhelm new Gaza food center

MUWASI, Gaza Strip — Chaos erupted on the second day of aid operations by a new U.S.-backed group in Gaza as desperate Palestinians overwhelmed a center distributing food on Tuesday, breaking through fences. Israel said nearby troops fired warning shots.

An AP journalist heard Israeli tank and gunfire and saw a military helicopter firing flares. The Israeli military said its troops fired the warning shots in the area outside the center and that “control over the situation was established.”

At least three injured Palestinians were seen by the Associated Press being brought from the scene, one of them bleeding from his leg.

The distribution hub outside Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah had been opened the day before by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been slated by Israel to take over aid operations despite opposition from the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations.

Palestinians have become desperate for food after nearly three months of Israeli blockade pushed Gaza to the brink of famine. On Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children walked for several miles from the sprawling tent camps along Gaza’s Mediterranean coast -- through Israeli military lines -- to reach the GHF hub.

In the afternoon, the AP journalist, positioned some distance away, heard gunfire and rounds of tank fire. Smoke could be seen rising from where one round impacted. He saw a military helicopter overhead firing flares.

Crowds were seen running from the site. A few managed to secure aid boxes — containing basic items like sugar, flour, pasta and tehini — but the vast majority left empty-handed.

Ahmed Abu Taha, who was among those seeking aid, said crowds of people stormed into the distribution center, breaking fences. He heard gunfire and saw Israeli military aircraft overhead, “It was chaos,” he said. “People were panicked.”

Another Palestinian, Saleh Abu Najjar, said he heard a tank firing from a distance, east of the center. “The situation was very dangerous and people were frightened,” he said.

In a statement, GHF said that because of the large number of Palestinians seeking aid, staff at the hub followed the group’s safety protocols and “fell back” to allow them to dissipate, then later resumed operations.

A spokesperson for the group told the AP that no shots were fired from GHF. Speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the group’s rules, the spokesperson said the protocol aims at “avoiding loss of life, which is exactly what happened.”

GHF uses armed private contractors to guard the hubs and the transportation of supplies. The hub is also close to Israeli military positions in the Morag Corridor, a band of territory across the breadth of Gaza that divides Rafah from the rest of the territory.

GHF has set up four hubs around Gaza to distribute food, two of which began operating on Monday — both of them in the Rafah area. U.N. officials and aid workers have warned of the risk of frictions between Israeli troops and crowds of people seeking aid at the hubs.

Jahjouh writes for the Associated Press.