Tragedy in Gaza: Palestinians recount harrowing accounts of aid distribution clash causing loss of life
Khan Younis, Gaza - A Day of Terror
In the hospital tent of Nasser Hospital, a distraught Ihab sits by his wounded son, Yazan, 13. The boy's t-shirt is pulled up, revealing a large white bandage on his thin torso. His 15-year-old brother, Yazid, also suffers, both boys victims of an unfortunate day marked by violence and despair.
Beside him, Ihab, a 40-year-old father, remains shaken. The bloodied dawn they endured on Sunday, when Israeli forces indiscriminately fired upon thousands of starving Gaza residents seeking aid from the Israeli-conceived, United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), still haunts him.
Worrying the Crowds
Ihab had taken his sons from their shelter in al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, to the Rafah distribution point operated by the GHF. They braved the pre-dawn darkness,Endeavoring to reach the al-Alam Roundabout in Rafah in about an hour and a half.
Concerned about the swelling crowd and their hunger, Ihab instructed his sons to wait for him on a hill near the GHF gates.
"When I looked behind the hill, I saw several tanks not far away," he confesses. "A sense of dread washed over me. What if they opened fire or something horrible happened? I prayed for God's protection."
As the crowd edged closer to the gates, a hail of gunfire erupted, coming from all directions.
A Day of Horror
"I was terrified," Ihab admits. "I immediately looked towards my sons on the hill, and saw Yazan get shot and collapse."
Yazid, also at his brother's bedside, narrates the events: "We were standing on the hill as our father told us, and suddenly, the tanks started firing."
The young boy recalls his brother getting hit in the stomach immediately, watching as his intestines spilled out – a chilling sight. He was then helped by passersby and transported to the hospital in a donkey cart.
Down by the gates, Ihab struggled against the crowd and the continued gunfire, desperate to reach his sons.
"Shots were coming from tanks, drones," he recalls. "I saw people helping my son, eventually dragging him away."
The Long Journey to the Hospital
When Ihab managed to escape the chaos, he ran towards Nasser Hospital, desperate for news of Yazan. It felt like he'd been running for more than an hour.
At the hospital, he learned that his son had been taken into surgery.
"I finally breathed, relieved that he was still alive," Ihab says. "I had completely lost hope."
Yazan's bullet wound had torn through his intestines and spleen, and the doctors warned he needed long and intensive treatment.
His mother, Iman, sits despairingly by his side. "Why would anyone shoot at people trying to get food?" She and Ihab have five children, the youngest only seven months old.
"I went to get food for my kids. Hunger is killing us," says Ihab.
"Desperation drives us to these aid distributions despite the degrading and humiliating conditions. But we're still shot at?"
He had tried to get aid before but came away empty-handed both times.
"The first time, there was a deadly stampede. We barely escaped. This time, my son was wounded, and again, we got nothing," Ihab says.
But he vows not to give up. "I'll risk it for my family. Either I come back alive or I die. I'm desperate. Hunger is killing us."
Behind the Aid Distribution
The GHF, marketed as a neutral humanitarian mechanism, was launched in early 2025 and employs private US military contractors to "secure the distribution points."
The GHF's head, Jake Wood, resigned his post two days before distribution began, citing concerns that the foundation would not be impartial or act in accordance with humanitarian principles.
Five days later, on May 30, the Boston Consulting Group, which had been part of the planning and implementation of the foundation, withdrew its team and terminated its association with GHF.
International aid organizations have been unanimous in criticizing the GHF and its methods.
A Father's Last Attempt
Lying nearby in the tent ward is Mohammed al-Homs, 40, a father of five. He too had headed out early on Sunday, desperate to feed his family.
Moments after arriving at the al-Alam Roundabout roundabout, he was struck by two bullets – once in the leg and once in the mouth, shattering his front teeth.
"I collapsed, there were so many injured and dead around me. Everyone was screaming and running. Gunfire was coming from tanks, drones everywhere. It felt like the end of the world."
Lying bleeding on the ground for what felt like an hour, he could hear the gates opening for distribution, but medical teams couldn't reach him.
It was only then that people could start moving the wounded to a nearby medical point.
"This was my first and last time trying to get aid," Mohammed says.
"I didn’t expect to survive. We went looking for food for our hungry children and were met with drones and tanks."
A Determined Survivor
Also in the tent is someone who succeeded in getting an aid package on the first day of distribution, on May 27, and decided to try again on Sunday: 36-year-old Khaled al-Lahham.
Taking care of ten family members: his parents, one aunt, and seven siblings, all displaced in the tents of al-Mawasi, he had managed to catch a ride with five friends that morning.
As the distribution time approached, the six friends started getting out of the car.
"Suddenly, there was loud gunfire all around and people screaming," Khaled recalls. "I felt a sharp pain in my leg – a bullet had passed clean through my thigh."
Unable to get out of the car, Khaled huddled inside until one of his friends managed to return and drive him to the hospital.
"I never imagined I'd face death for a box of food," Khaled says.
"If they don't want to distribute the aid, why do they lie to people and kill them like this? This is all deliberate. Humiliate us, degrade us, then kill us – for food?"
- The breaking news eerily unfolding in Khan Younis, Gaza, is a stark reminder of the blurred boundary between health and war, as innocent civilians like Ihab and his sons suffer in the crossfire, seeking essential food aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
- Amid the disturbing incidents of violence, there are glimmers of hope and resilience in the scientific community, as researchers continue their quest for solutions to address the health-and-wellness challenges faced by people in Gaza, such as the ongoing concern of malnourishment.
