The distribution centers of the much-criticized new aid system for Gaza were mired in new chaos on Monday, amid conflicting reports over the weekend that Hamas had threatened to attack workers for the Israeli-backed group handing out food supplies.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a group set up to bypass traditional aid distribution, said on Saturday that some of its workers had been threatened by Hamas, the militant group that led the Oct. 7 attack on Israel in 2023 and controls the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, Hamas denied the accusations and accused the aid group of lacking neutrality.
Shootings near aid distribution centers have killed nearly 50 people and wounded some 300 since the foundation began operations at the end of May. The Israeli military has acknowledged firing near people who had deviated from “designated access routes” and who did not respond to verbal warnings. Gaza health officials say dozens of Palestinians have been killed trying to get aid.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has razed huge urban areas and forced almost all the enclave’s two million residents to flee their homes at least once. Israel cut off deliveries of food, fuel and other essential goods to Gaza in March as a way to pressure Hamas, a blockade that ended in mid-May after almost 80 days. Aid groups and some Israeli military officers have warned that the restrictions have pushed Gazans to the bring of starvation.
Israel has accused Hamas of diverting aid from humanitarian groups under the previous distribution system, which was managed by the United Nations across hundreds of distribution sites. The United Nations has said there was no evidence that the militants systematically diverted aid.
Israel agreed to allow some aid into Gaza last month. Most has come through the foundation, which has four distribution sites that are operated by private American security contractors in coordination with the Israeli military. The United Nations and other aid groups have boycotted this system, and have accused Israel of using aid as a part of its military strategy.
On Saturday, the foundation said it was “impossible to proceed” with aid distribution because Hamas had threatened its staff.
In its response on Monday, Hamas said the foundation “continues to spread canned lies” and called it “nothing more than a propaganda front for the Israeli occupation army.”
Yet even beyond the dispute over security threats and earlier attacks on civilians, the foundation’s distribution work remained mired in chaos.
After announcing the opening of one center on Monday through its Facebook page, the foundation posted less than 20 minutes later that distributions were completed and it had closed. The comment section filled with angry reactions to the short notice and opening period.
A second post said that the foundation had closed another center “because of the chaos of surrounding crowds, which prevented the safe delivery of aid.”
The foundation then closed comments on its posts.
Despite the reopening of some aid deliveries, international aid groups warn that Gazans are still at serious risk of malnutrition. The distribution sites remain hard to reach for many Gazans, particularly those in the north.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said on Monday that the average Gazan was getting only about two-thirds of the necessary daily caloric intake. It added that continuing to impede aid flows could be classified as a war crime.
Rawan Sheikh Ahmad and Adam Rasgon contributed reporting
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