Food site killings Investigation shows sustained pattern of Israeli shootings

Ehab Nuor lies flat on the sand behind entangled metal, hiding from heavy machine-gun fire, as hundreds of Palestinians scramble away, carrying backpacks in which they had hoped to collect food.

- Manisha Ganguly

Nuor, a 23-year-old barber, has come under fire from the Israeli military near food distribution centres on more than 10 occasions.

A Guardian investigation analysing visual evidence, bullets, medical data and patterns of injuries from two hospitals, as well as interviews with medical organisations and surgeons, across approximately 50 days of food distribution, appears to show a sustained Israeli pattern of firing on Palestinians seeking food.

The Guardian studied more than 30 videos of gunfire near food distribution sites run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). More than 2,000 Palestinians were injured during the 48 days investigated, mostly by gunshots.

In the footage, machine-gun fire can be heard on at least 11 days near the food distribution sites. Bullet casings recovered from patients, and patterns of fire analysed by weapons experts, suggest they were Israeli munitions.

Palestinians such as Nuor who travel to GHF sites have come under systematic and indiscriminate Israeli gunfire.

Doctors at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis and the Red Cross field hospital in Rafah described treating an unprecedented number of gunshot wounds. Almost all responsive patients arriving at the field hospital said they had been shot by the Israeli military while trying to reach a food distribution site.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the casualties were higher than the combined number of patients they had treated during mass-casualty incidents over the entire previous year.

In data seen by the Guardian, more than 100 of these patients were declared dead on arrival.

Just last week, Nuor dodged bullets again: "This is how we get flour in Gaza. We just want to live - enough is enough." In one video, an Israeli tank is clearly visible, and gunshots can be heard.