‘Hordes of hungry people’: 4 Palestinians killed as Gaza aid warehouse is overrun amid famine fears

A frantic and desperate rush for food in Gaza turned deadly on Wednesday when thousands of starving Palestinians overwhelmed a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse. This led to the deaths of four people and left several others injured. The event highlights the extreme humanitarian crisis in Gaza, made worse by an ongoing blockade and a complicated mix of aid distribution methods. While the BBC first reported two deaths, later updates from Yahoo News increased the number to four.

The chaos broke out as thousands of people stormed the Al-Ghafari warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, grabbing bags of flour and other food supplies while gunfire was heard. It is still unclear where the gunfire came from. This desperate act shows how severe the hunger crisis in Gaza has become after an 18-month war and a nearly three-month Israeli blockade. Even though the blockade has been eased recently, one in five people are now at risk of starvation.

The Evening Standard described the scene as Gazans breaking into the building in a frantic search for food. Conditions have gotten so bad that people are taking extreme measures just to survive, driven by worsening hunger.

UN Warehouse overrun by starving citizens

The incident led to accusations between Israel and the UN. Israel stated that 121 trucks carrying humanitarian aid, including flour and food, had been sent into Gaza. However, the UN responded that this aid, which UN Middle East envoy Sigrid Kaag called “comparable to a lifeboat after the ship has sunk,” was not enough to stop the widespread famine. The UN had repeatedly warned about the worsening conditions and the dangers of restricting aid for a population close to collapse.

Making the situation even more complicated is the role of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial aid distribution system supported by the US and Israel. The GHF, which uses US security contractors, operates separately from the UN, avoiding established aid channels. While the US and Israeli governments say the GHF, with its four distribution centers, stops Hamas from stealing aid (a claim Hamas denies), the UN sees the GHF as impractical and unethical.

We’ve already seen people resign over how aid is being distributed. The UN’s concerns come from the GHF’s limited reach, mostly in southern Gaza, while most of the population lives in the north. According to the UN, this creates “essentially engineered scarcity.” The GHF’s operations have not been without problems.

The UN Human Rights Office reported 47 injuries after a similar rush at a GHF distribution site in Rafah the day before. Adding to the UN’s worries, there were reports of desperate crowds stealing cargo directly from UN aid trucks. This led a senior UN official to say there is no proof that Hamas is taking aid through official humanitarian channels.

Instead, criminal gangs near the Kerem Shalom crossing point, allegedly with the Israeli army’s silent approval, were mostly responsible for aid theft. However, Israel’s ambassador to the UN accused the UN of acting in a “mafia-like” way and threatening aid groups working with the GHF.