Just over a week ago, Mahmoud Qassem lost his son, Khader. The 19-year-old had been attempting to reach a food distribution center operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in central Gaza.
The last time his mother and I heard from him was around 11 p. m. that night. He informed me that he was in a safe location — he had traveled to the Netzarim distribution center — and I told him to take care, Qassem told DW from a tent in Gaza City, where the family has been relocated.
At 1 a. m. , I attempted to contact him again, but his phone was not receiving calls. I became nervous. There was no communication the entire time, and I waited until 2 p. m. on Friday. "I felt like a fire was burning inside me," the 50-year-old said.
On Friday, Qassem went to central Gaza and checked the hospitals until he found out that Khader had been murdered. When the body was finally retrieved in coordination with the Israeli military, it was discovered that his son had been killed by numerous gunshot wounds.
A 19-year-old kid who hadn't even started living his life died merely for retrieving a box, he told, barely holding back tears. He went on to say that he didn't want Khader to leave, but his son felt he had to provide for his family.
The scenario here is beyond description. People are sacrificing themselves to achieve it. Only God knows what we're going through. No one cares about us—not Hamas, Israel, Arab nations, or anyone else.
Food and other supplies are extremely limited in Gaza.
Almost daily reports of violence, injuries, and fatalities linked to food and aid distribution underscore the intolerable reality confronting Gaza's 2. 3 million citizens, who have grown almost entirely reliant on supplies flowing in through Israel's crossings. Nearly the entire population has been displaced, and around 57,000 Gazans, many of them women and children, have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. According to a study conducted in May, 93% of the residual population is suffering severe food insecurity.
Food and other supplies remain extremely limited in Gaza, despite the resumption of UN aid deliveries and the establishment of new distribution centers—three of which are currently operational—managed by the GHF, a US-Israeli organization, following an Israeli blockade that lasted nearly three months.
Israeli authorities defended the blockade by stating that Hamas was stealing aid and utilizing it to fund its activities. This assertion has been refuted by the United Nations and other international and local aid organizations, which have had well-established networks and distribution methods in Gaza for many years.
However, aid trucks have frequently been looted, either by armed groups or by regular individuals desperately attempting to obtain food. Meanwhile, the Israeli military has increased its airstrikes, delivering broad evacuation orders for significant portions of northern and southern Gaza.
Saeed Abu Libda, a 44-year-old father of five, recently succeeded in obtaining one sack of flour when a vehicle stopped by close to Khan Younis. I realize it was dangerous, but we had to eat, he told DW over the phone, since foreign reporters are prohibited in Gaza.
Abu Libda stated that thousands of people were waiting for the vehicles when he unexpectedly heard two shells fired. I observed individuals on the ground, some of whom were injured and others who had been cut to pieces. I received shrapnel in my abdomen, but fortunately it was a minor injury.
Young men transport bags of food that they have gathered from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Young men transport bags of food that they have gathered from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
The Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza estimates that more than 500 people have been killed in recent weeks due to Israeli airstrikes, shootings, and bombardments. According to health officials, the majority of these victims were nearby food distribution stations or vehicles transporting assistance.
On Tuesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry refuted these allegations in a statement posted on X, accusing Hamas of shooting at civilians. It was alleged that testimonies from Gaza inhabitants demonstrated that Hamas spread false accusations against the IDF, exaggerated civilian casualties, and distributed fake footage.
On Tuesday, approximately 130 of the world's largest charities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including Oxfam and Save the Children, called for the GHF to be shut down. They claimed that the foundation forced thousands of hungry people into militarized areas, where they were shot at while attempting to obtain essential assistance.
During a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday, GHF Chairman Johnnie Moore said that the organization would not stop operations. He stated that the foundation has served over 55 million meals to date and is eager to cooperate with the United Nations and other aid organizations. He also mentioned that the Gazan health ministry provides a daily statistic of civilian casualties, attributing 100% of those fatalities to waiting for aid — nearly always, waiting for our assistance.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has on several occasions stated that it has fired warning shots at people approaching military posts near aid distribution centers. It has not disclosed any information regarding casualty figures.
However, on June 27, the left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an article claiming that Israeli troops had been instructed to open fire on crowds near food distribution locations in order to keep them away from Israeli positions within the militarized zones.
Unnamed troops interviewed in the piece claimed to have used lethal force against unarmed people who posed no danger. Haaretz also stated that the military was looking into whether these actions violated international law and constituted possible war crimes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz jointly rejected the article, claiming that the newspaper spread malicious falsehoods to defame the Israel Defense Forces, the world's most moral military.
