Secretive, militarised, chaotic: anger over failing aid mission for starving Gazans

Relief agencies fear that a controversial US-Israeli initiative to supply food is part of a plan to depopulate the territory, reports Ruth Michaelson, Middle East Correspondent

- Ruth Michaelson

As hundreds, possibly thousands, of hungry people ran across sandy hills and between high metal fences in desperate search of food, the sound of sudden gunfire sparked panic. People ran in every direction, some clutching boxes of much needed aid, others fleeing with nothing.

The chaotic scenes last week from the launch of a controversial American and Israeli-backed plan to deliver aid to millions of people on the brink of starvation in Gaza did little to quell humanitarians’ fears about the opaque initiative, which involves using armed contractors to deliver aid, rather than the United Nations.

Crowds in Rafah overran a distribution centre on the second day of operations but there was no sign of the burly masked guards from a company called Safe Reach Solutions, run by a former CIA officer. UN officials later said Israeli forces opened fire.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it treated 48 patients, including women and children, at their field hospital. "All were suffering from gunshot wounds," they said.

The newly formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) denied any reports of injuries at their distribution centres and claimed to have distributed more than 23,000 boxes of dry goods such as pasta and lentils, but that's a tiny amount of aid given that more than two million people are facing starvation after two months of a complete Israeli blockade. Safe Reach Solutions did not respond when contacted for comment.

It is still unclear who owns GHF, who funds it and who runs it. The organisation's executive director, Jake Wood, abruptly resigned the day before distribution began, saying: "It is clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, which I will not abandon."