‘Death race’ for food: Hundreds killed in Gaza aid chaos
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‘Death race’ for food: Hundreds killed in Gaza aid chaos
More than 400 people have been killed and more than 3,000 wounded since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began its work May 26. Israel cut off all aid entering into Gaza in March, justifying the blockade as a way to pressure the militant group Hamas into releasing hostages. The group was controversial from the outset, so much so that its first pick as executive director quit before aid deliveries even began, saying the foundation’s plan couldn’t be implemented without “breaching humanitarian principles” Boston Consulting Group, which helped design the distribution system, terminated its contract with the foundation this month and fired two partners involved with the project. It also has deployed armed private contractors with the Israeli military stationed a hundred yards away from the distribution centers. It has also concentrated aid deliveries to what the group calls four “fortified’ or “only or so’ centers” across southern Gaza rather than the smaller centers used by U.N. and other groups. And residents complain that only one or two are usually open on any given day.
“It’s a death race. The faster, the stronger, the luckier — they’re the ones who might survive, might reach the food,” said 30-year-old Mohammed al-Shaqra.
“It feels like we’re animals, racing for a box of supplies as if our lives depend on it. And they do.”
Ever since Israel sidelined the United Nations and other humanitarian aid organizations late last month and tasked assistance operations to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an opaque U.S.- and Israeli-backed private contractor registered in Delaware, killing has been the near-daily companion of aid deliveries.
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On Thursday, health authorities in Gaza said 12 people were killed near one of the foundation’s aid distribution centers, a relatively low toll in a week that saw 59 killed in similar circumstances on Tuesday. Since the foundation began its work May 26, more than 400 people have been killed and more than 3,000 wounded.
Al-Shaqra became one of the casualties this month.
On June 8, he gathered with thousands of others early in the morning near the aid center in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. It was his third attempt to get food.
“I was desperate to bring something back — flour, rice, pasta, anything — for my parents, my siblings and their kids,” he said.
When the passageway to the distribution center opened, Al-Shaqra sprinted as fast as he could, hoping to beat others in the crowd and grab a box. But then an Israeli quadcopter drone — it had been buzzing overhead — started dropping explosives; the third bomb landed close to him, he said.
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Mohammed al-Shaqra receives medical treatment inside a tented clinic at Nasser Hospital in Rafah, Gaza, on June 12. He says he had gone to collect food parcels from a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution center when an Israeli quadcopter dropped explosives. (Bilal Shbeir / For The Times)
“My left arm shattered. I looked down and saw the bone hanging, and there was a sharp pain in my guts,” he said. Cradling his arm and trying to stop bleeding from his stomach, he stumbled for almost half a mile before collapsing onto a donkey cart. A kind driver took him to a field hospital for the International Committee of the Red Cross. The doctors saved his arm.
The foundation came online two months after Israel cut off all aid entering into Gaza in March, justifying the blockade — despite widespread opprobrium — as a way to pressure the militant group Hamas into releasing hostages even as Palestinian authorities and aid groups reported a starvation crisis.
Although the U.N. and humanitarian relief organizations pleaded for access to feed the roughly 2 million people in the Gaza Strip, Israel insisted Hamas was stealing aid, a claim the U.N. and other groups deny and for which Israel has never provided evidence. The alternative, the Israeli government said, would be the foundation.
Palestinians flock to the aid center set up by the U.S.- and Israeli-led Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Sudaniya, an area north of Gaza City on Tuesday. (Saeed M. M. T. Jaras / Anadolu / Getty Images)
But the group was controversial from the outset, so much so that its first pick as executive director quit before aid deliveries even began, saying the foundation’s plan couldn’t be implemented without “breaching humanitarian principles.” Boston Consulting Group, which helped design the distribution system, terminated its contract with the foundation this month and fired two partners involved with the project.
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Instead of using humanitarian workers, the foundation has deployed armed private contractors with the Israeli military stationed only a hundred yards or so away. It also concentrated aid deliveries to what the group calls four “fortified” hubs in southern Gaza rather than the roughly 400 smaller centers used by the U.N. and other aid groups across the enclave — forcing already hungry people to walk for miles through active combat zones to access the deliveries.
Palestinians carry food and other aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah, Gaza. Hungry people have had to walk for miles through active combat zones to access the deliveries. (Abdel Kareem Hana / Associated Press)
Gaza residents also complain only one or two hubs are usually operating on any given day, and rarely open at the announced time. It’s also never stated what’s in the food boxes. And rather than directly handing the boxes to people, the group’s workers instead dump them on pallets and watch crowds swarm over them. People gather hours in advance on safe routes designated by the Israeli military, but often find themselves under Israeli fire when allowed to approach the hubs.
“It’s a real-life version of ‘Squid Game.’ We run, then the shooting starts, we hit the ground and stay still so we’re not killed, then run again,” said Hussein Nizar, a resident who repeatedly tried to get aid, even after his neighbor Ameen Sameer was shot in the head.
“I watched him die beside me,” he said. “I couldn’t do anything to help out because of all the shooting.”
Ahmed Abu Daqqa, a former barber, receives treatment at a tented clinic at Nasser Hospital in Rafah, Gaza, on June 12. He was shot beside his right eye near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution point. The bullet fractured his skull and broke his nose. (Bilal Shbeir / For the Times)
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The Israeli military has repeatedly responded to questions about killings near the aid hubs by saying it would look into reports of civilian casualties. In a previous incident, it said troops fired on people approaching them in a threatening manner.
Several Palestinians and a foundation spokesman — who gave his name as Majed — said many of the shootings occur when people run beyond the limits of the safe route in an attempt to get to the distribution site faster.
Even if they’re not wounded or killed, many go home empty-handed, said Jassim, a 28-year-old logistics worker hired by a local contractor working with the foundation.
“Decent people, especially the elderly and women with children, can’t fight through the crowds,” he said. He added that gangs also stalk people leaving the delivery area, looking to rob them and sell the precious supplies on the black market.
“Many of them carry knives. It’s like a trap, and I see many people killed.”
When Al-Shaqra regained consciousness, he found himself in Nasser Hospital, waiting for surgery in rooms already overflowing with other casualties from that day’s attacks at the aid hub. Among them was his father, Wadee al-Shaqra, who was injured by a bullet that tore through the side of his abdomen.
Palestinians who were injured by Israeli fire as they gathered near a food aid center await care on a bloodied floor at Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. (AFP/Getty Images)
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He lost track of his son after he was shot, but found him hours later, by coincidence, in one of a few tents set up near Nasser Hospital for convalescing patients.
“I thought he was killed. I was so happy to see him I didn’t ask if he got any food. I didn’t care,” the father said. He added that he and his son went to the hubs despite the danger because they didn’t have enough bread to share among his grandchildren.
“We’re supposed to protect them,” he said. “We’re risking our lives just to keep them from starving.”
The foundation says its efforts have been a success, touting its delivery of almost 26 million “meals” in the 22 days since it started operations. But with almost half a million people facing catastrophic levels of hunger and the entire population contending with acute food security, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the deliveries amount to roughly 0.6 meals per person.
The foundation does not elaborate on how it defines a meal, but it previously stated that it calculated daily rations at 1,750 calories, well below the 2,200 calories target used by humanitarian aid organizations. (Majed said recent aid deliveries provide 2,500-calorie provisions.)
The bedlam accompanying the group’s distribution practices, aid workers say, was entirely predictable.
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Palestinians carry a wounded man after he and others headed to a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid site were attacked by Israeli forces near the Sudaniya area in Gaza on Tuesday. (Saeed M. M. T. Jaras / Anadolu / Getty Images)
“Delivery of humanitarian aid can be a very straightforward operation, but it’s a complex one,” said Juliette Touma, communications director for the U.N. agency for Palestinians, UNRWA.
She added that UNRWA and other groups have decades of experience serving Palestinians, with comprehensive registry lists and an orderly distribution system that assigns appointments at conveniently placed centers. The foundation aid, comprising mostly dry goods such as pasta or lentils, requires gas and water to cook, both of which are hard to procure in Gaza. The aid also does not include hygiene and cleaning supplies, she said — an essential requirement.
“There’s this sheer arrogance that the U.N. and humanitarians can be replaced — just like that — by a third party, a private security company. It’s not at all like that,” she said. “Let us do our job.”
Saleem al-Najili, a 33-year-old nurse at the UK-Med field hospital in Deir al Balah, now dreads aid delivery times.
“Every time the GHF center opens its doors, I know what’s coming,” he said.
“It means more blood and screaming, more impossible decisions on whom we can treat. And fewer people we can actually save.”
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Shbeir, a Times special correspondent, reported from Deir al Balah. Staff writer Bulos reported from Beirut.
Turkey’s Cute Little Waddle on Way to Score ‘Cheez-Its’ Couldn’t Be More Precious
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. The turkey’s mom, Sarah Chitwood, shared a video on Instagram of what happens when she calls the turkey to let her know she’s got her snack. Make sure your sound is on, because the accompanying song perfectly matches the turkey’s adorable waddles as she runs. The Pennsylvania Game Commission explains that male droppings are “j-shaped,” while those of females take on a more “spiral or curlicue” shape. The male turkeys make the gobbling sound, while female turkeys cluck like a chicken, yelp if they’re excited or agitated, or purr like a cat.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways
Turkey’s Cute Little Waddle on Way to Score ‘Cheez-Its’ Couldn’t Be More Precious originally appeared on PetHelpful.
It’s no secret that all pets love to get treats, and Our Little Blue Farmhouse’s turkey is no exception. The bird has a favorite, too – Cheez-It crackers. The turkey’s mom, Sarah Chitwood, shared a video on Instagram recently of what happens when she calls the turkey to let her know she’s got her snack, and it’s the cutest thing you’ll see today.
Make sure your sound is on, because the accompanying song perfectly matches the turkey’s adorable waddles as she runs. If we’re being honest, we feel the same way she does about the cheesy crackers!
Sarah says in the video’s caption, “She loves her cheese crackers!” and it’s clear from the video. We’d be feeding her Cheez-Its every day just to see that run! @pocketmacro agreed, “Look at that cute waddle run!” We also agree with @abbe_dae, who shared, “Love watching all birds walking…makes me smile and sometimes laugh!”
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Many wondered the same thing @chrissybel74 did, “Love the ankle monitor, ma’am, what did you do to be on yard arrest?” @cecilitaff12 cracked everybody up when she asked Sarah, “Are you tracking your husband’s side chick? LOL!”
Related: Grouchy Turkey Is Hilariously Unimpressed by Little Lamb’s Adorable Zoomies
Cool Facts About Turkeys
Did you know this fun fact from Bird Helpful? “A group of turkeys, regardless of age, is known as a rafter, reflecting their communal nature and tendency to stay together.” Why they noted ‘regardless of age’ is because what you call a turkey depends on their age.
Baby turkeys are referred to as poults or chicks. Once baby turkeys begin to mature, the males are referred to as jakes and the females as jennies before reaching full adulthood. Adult male turkeys are called toms, while females are called hens. Why they have so many different names is just crazy!
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Best Life shared this cool fact, “Turkeys are known for the gobbling sound they make, but it turns out that only the male birds make that iconic call. Female turkeys—or hens—on the other hand, will instead cluck like a chicken, yelp if they’re excited or agitated, or purr like a cat.” We had no idea!
Another difference between males and females? They poop differently. The Pennsylvania Game Commission explains that male droppings are “j-shaped,” while those of females take on a more “spiral or curlicue” shape. Something to look for next time you’re around a rafter of turkeys!
Turkey’s Cute Little Waddle on Way to Score ‘Cheez-Its’ Couldn’t Be More Precious first appeared on PetHelpful on Jun 19, 2025
This story was originally reported by PetHelpful on Jun 19, 2025, where it first appeared.
Hamas says it killed 12 Israeli-backed fighters. Israeli-supported group says they were aid workers
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A unit of Gaza’s Hamas-run police force said it killed 12 members of an Israeli-backed Palestinian militia after detaining them early Thursday. An Israel-supported aid group, however, said the dead were its aid workers, eight of whom were killed when Hamas attacked its bus.
It was not immediately possible to verify the competing claims or confirm the identities of those killed. The militia, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, said its fighters had attacked Hamas and killed five militants but made no mention of its own casualties. It also accused Hamas of detaining and killing aid workers.
The deaths were the latest sign of turmoil surrounding the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private contractor that Israel says will replace the U.N. in distributing food to Gaza’s more than 2 million people. The past two weeks, dozens of Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded in near daily shootings as they try to reach GHF centers, with witnesses saying Israeli troops nearby have repeatedly opened fire.
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On Wednesday, at least 13 people were killed and 170 wounded when Israeli forces fired toward a crowd of Palestinians near a GHF center in central Gaza, according to al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. The military said it fired warning shots overnight at a gathering that posed a threat, hundreds of meters (yards) from the aid site.
Internet and phone lines, meanwhile, were down across Gaza, according to telecom provider Paltel and the Palestinian telecoms authority. They said a key line was severed during an Israeli operation and that the military would not allow technicians into the area to repair it.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports. The U.N. humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said emergency services were cut off because of the outage, and civilians cannot call ambulances. It said most U.N. agencies and aid groups could not reach their staff on the ground.
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‘They were aid workers’
Israel has barred international journalists from entering Gaza, making it difficult to confirm what happened in the killings early Wednesday near the southern city of Khan Younis.
GHF said Hamas attacked a bus carrying more than two dozen of its Palestinian aid workers, killing at least eight and wounding others. It said it feared some had been abducted.
“We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms,” it said. “These were aid workers. Humanitarians. Fathers, brothers, sons, and friends, who were risking their lives every day to help others.”
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The Israeli military circulated GHF’s statement but declined to provide its own account of what happened.
Rev. Johnnie Moore, a Christian evangelical advisor to President Trump who was recently appointed head of GHF, called the killings “absolute evil.”
The U.N.’s OCHA said it could not confirm the circumstances of the killings but said “civilians must never be attacked, let alone those trying to access or provide food amid mass starvation.”
GHF says its staff at the centers include unarmed Palestinian employees. Much of the staff are armed international contractors, mainly Americans, guarding the centers.
The Abu Shabab group fighters are deployed inside the Israeli military zones that surround the GHF centers, according to witnesses. Earlier this week, witnesses said Abu Shabab militiamen had opened fire on people en route to a GHF aid hub, killing and wounding many. GHF says it does not work with the Abu Shabab group. Last week, Israel acknowledged it is supporting armed groups of Palestinians opposed to Hamas.
Hamas says it killed traitors
Hamas has rejected the GHF system and threatened to kill any Palestinians who cooperate with the Israeli military.
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The Sahm police unit, which Hamas says it established to combat looting, released video footage showing several dead men lying in the street, saying they were Abu Shabab fighters who had been detained and killed for collaborating with Israel.
It was not possible to verify the images or the claims around them.
Mohammed Abu Amin, a Khan Younis resident who was at the scene, said a crowd celebrated the killings, shouting “God is greatest” and condemning those killed as traitors.
Ghassan Duhine, who identifies himself as deputy commander of the Abu Shabab group and a major in the Palestinian Authority’s security forces, issued a statement saying Abu Shabab fighters had clashed with Sahm and killed five. He denied that the bodies in Sahm’s images were the group’s fighters.
The Palestinian Authority, led by rivals of Hamas and based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has denied any connection to the Abu Shabab group. But many of the militiamen identify themselves as PA officers.
Aid initiative already marred by controversy
Aid workers say Gaza is at risk of famine because of Israel’s renewed military campaign and its two-and-a-half-month ban on imports of food, fuel and medicine to Gaza, which was slightly eased in mid-May.
OCHA warned that fuel “may very soon run out” at 67 of the 85 remaining partially functioning hospitals and health care centers in Gaza, meaning vital equipment would go dead.
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Despite the easing of the blockade, Israel has still not allowed fuel to enter. OCHA said the military gave it permission to retrieve fuel stored in northern Gaza after weeks of denials, but the team sent Wednesday had to turn back because of Israeli shelling in the area.
The United Nations and major aid groups have rejected the GHF distribution system. They say it is unable to meet Gaza’s needs and allows Israel to use food as a weapon to enact its military objectives, including plans to move Gaza’s entire population to southern Gaza near the GHF hubs. Some fear this could be part of an Israeli plan to coerce Palestinians into leaving Gaza.
Israel and the United States say the new system is needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off aid from the long-standing U.N.-run system. U.N. officials deny there has been any systematic diversion of aid by Hamas.
The Israeli military on Thursday released what it said were seized Hamas documents showing it takes aid. One document, apparently showing minutes from a meeting last year, included an item saying the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, had previously taken 25% of the aid but had agreed to settle for 7%, with 4% going to the Hamas-run government and 4% to the political movement. It did not specify the source or quantity of the aid. Israel did not release the entire document.
The documents also detailed Hamas’ efforts to keep traders from hoarding goods and charging inflated prices for them. One of them appeared to acknowledge that some such traders had links to Hamas.
The Associated Press could not confirm the documents’ authenticity.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed over 55,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It does not say how many of those killed were civilians or combatants.
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The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage. They are still holding 53 captives, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Magdy and Chehayeb write for the Associated Press. Chehayeb reported from Beirut. AP writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.
More than 55,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza health officials say
The Gaza Health Ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants, but has said that women and children make up more than half the dead. The ministry says 55,104 people have been killed since the start of the war and 127,394 wounded. Many more are believed to be buried under the rubble or in areas that are inaccessible to local medics. Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid, but the U.N. and aid groups deny there is any systematic diversion of aid to militants. The war began when Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages. More than half of the captives have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The Palestinian death toll from the 20-month Israel-Hamas war has climbed past 55,000, the Gaza Health Ministry said Wednesday.
The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants, but has said that women and children make up more than half the dead.
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It’s a grim milestone in the war that began with Hamas’ attack into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and shows no sign of ending. Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of hiding among civilians, because they operate in populated areas.
The ministry says 55,104 people have been killed since the start of the war and 127,394 wounded. Many more are believed to be buried under the rubble or in areas that are inaccessible to local medics.
The Health Ministry is part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, but staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records. Its tolls from previous conflicts have largely aligned with those of independent experts, though Israel has questioned the ministry’s figures.
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Israeli forces have destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced about 90% of its population and in recent weeks have transformed more than half of the coastal territory into a military buffer zone that includes the now mostly uninhabited southern city of Rafah.
A two-and-a-half-month blockade imposed by Israel when it ended a ceasefire with Hamas raised fears of famine and was slightly eased in May. The launch of a new Israeli- and U.S.-backed aid system has been marred by chaos and violence, and the U.N. says it has struggled to bring in food because of Israeli restrictions, a breakdown of law and order, and widespread looting.
Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid, but the U.N. and aid groups deny there is any systematic diversion of aid to militants.
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Hamas has suffered major setbacks militarily, and Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The militants still hold 55 hostages — less than half of them believed to be alive — and control areas outside of military zones despite facing rare protests earlier this year.
The war began when Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages. More than half the captives have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight and recovered the remains of dozens more.
Israel’s military campaign, one of the deadliest and most destructive since World War II, has transformed large parts of cities into mounds of rubble. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in squalid tent camps and unused schools, and the health system has been gutted, even as it copes with waves of wounded from Israeli strikes.
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Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal. It has offered to hand over power to a politically independent Palestinian committee.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected those terms, saying that Israel will only agree to temporary ceasefires to facilitate the return of hostages. He has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is defeated or disarmed and sent into exile.
Netanyahu says Israel will control Gaza indefinitely and facilitate what he refers to as the voluntary emigration of much of its population to other countries. The Palestinians and most of the international community reject such plans, viewing them as forcible expulsion that could violate international law.
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Shurafa and Khaled write for the Associated Press. Khaled reported from Cairo.
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