'Aid can't be a weapon' Gaza food distributor under scrutiny in chaos of first effort

After a rollout trumpeted by US officials, the US- and Israeli-backed effort that claimed it would return large-scale food deliveries to Gaza was born an orphan, with questions growing over its leadership, sources of funding and ties to Israeli officials and private US security contractors.

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The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) had said it would securely provide food supplies to the Gaza Strip, ending an Israeli blockade that UN officials say has led the territory to the brink of famine.

Instead, early reports and leaked video of its operations, which began this week, have depicted chaos, with crowds storming a distribution site and Israeli military officials confirming they had fired "warning shots" to restore order.

Gaza health officials said at least one civilian had been killed and 48 injured in the incident.

The GHF downplayed the episode, claiming there had been no casualties, and said it had distributed 14,550 food boxes, or 840,262 meals, according to its own calculations.