Sat Jul 05 14:09:45 UTC 2025: ## Summary:

Facing severe starvation due to the Israeli blockade of Gaza, Palestinians are risking their lives to obtain aid from US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution sites. Over 700 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured while seeking assistance at these sites, raising concerns about the safety and operations of the GHF. Reports indicate that GHF contractors and Israeli forces have opened fire on aid seekers, while the GHF denies these accusations. Despite the risks, desperate Palestinians continue to seek aid from the GHF due to extreme food shortages. Humanitarian groups have condemned the GHF, describing it as a dangerous and militarized scheme.

## News Article:

**Gaza: Starvation Drives Palestinians to Deadly Aid Sites Amid Controversy**

**Gaza Strip** – As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens due to an ongoing Israeli blockade, desperate Palestinians are risking their lives to secure food aid from distribution sites run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). New figures from the Gaza Health Ministry reveal a staggering toll: more than 700 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 5,000 injured in recent weeks while seeking assistance at GHF locations.

The GHF, which began operations in Gaza in late May, has faced mounting criticism over allegations that its contractors and Israeli forces have opened fire on aid seekers. Reports from news agencies, including the Associated Press, cite anonymous US contractors claiming that heavily armed GHF staff are acting with impunity, using live ammunition and stun grenades against civilians.

While the GHF has denied these reports as “categorically false,” the situation on the ground paints a grim picture. Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reports that the attacks are occurring against a backdrop of dire shortages, with families rationing supplies and mothers skipping meals to feed their children.

“People are going hungry,” Mahmoud stated, highlighting the desperation driving Palestinians to these dangerous locations.

Leading humanitarian and human rights groups have demanded the immediate closure of the GHF, with Amnesty International labeling its operations an “inhumane and deadly militarized scheme,” and accusing it of being “another tool of Israel’s genocide.”

Despite the risks, many Palestinians say they have no other choice. “I was forced to go to the aid distribution centre simply because my kids had not eaten for three days in a row,” said Majid Abu Laban, a Palestinian man wounded at a GHF site. “We try to fool our children by all means, but they are starving. So I decided to risk my life.”

The US government, under President Trump, has stood by the GHF, pledging $30 million in direct funding. A State Department spokesperson described the GHF as “the one entity that has gotten food and aid into the Gaza Strip.”

The GHF reported on Saturday that two US workers at one of its sites in Khan Younis were injured in a grenade attack, the circumstances of which remain unclear.

As the situation deteriorates, the urgent need for safe and reliable humanitarian aid in Gaza grows more pressing. The controversy surrounding the GHF underscores the complex and dangerous conditions faced by Palestinians struggling to survive under the ongoing blockade.

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