1 killed, 48 wounded when crowd was fired upon at chaotic Gaza aid site,
health officials say
[May 28, 2025]
By WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and MELANIE LIDMAN
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least one Palestinian was killed and
48 others wounded when a crowd was fired upon while overrunning a new
aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip set up by an Israeli and
U.S.-backed foundation, Gaza's Health Ministry said Wednesday.
Crowds of Palestinians on Tuesday broke through fences around the
distribution site where thousands had massed. An Associated Press
journalist heard Israeli tank and gun fire, and saw a military
helicopter firing flares.
It was not yet known whether the death and injuries were caused by
Israeli forces, private contractors or others. The foundation said its
military contractors had not fired on the crowd but “fell back” before
resuming aid operations. Israel said its troops nearby had fired warning
shots.
In a separate development, Israel carried out airstrikes Wednesday on
the international airport in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, destroying the last
plane belonging to the country's flagship carrier. The strikes came
after Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired several missiles at Israel in
recent days, without causing casualties.
The Israeli military said it destroyed aircraft used by the rebels. It
was not immediately clear if anyone was killed or wounded in the
strikes.
Chaos at new aid hub
The distribution hub outside Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah was
opened the day before by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has
been slated by Israel to take over aid operations.
The U.N. and other humanitarian organizations have rejected the new
system, saying it won’t be able to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million
people and allows Israel to use food to control the population. They
have also warned of the risk of friction between Israeli troops and
people seeking supplies.
Palestinians have become desperate for food after nearly three months of
Israeli border closures pushed Gaza to the brink of famine.
“What we saw yesterday is a very clear example of the dangers of
distributing food under (these) circumstances,” Ajith Sunghay, head of
the U.N. Human Rights Office for the Palestinian territories, told
reporters in Geneva. He said the new system is “exposing people to death
and injury when they have faced 19 months of this brutal war.”
Israel says it helped establish the new aid mechanism to prevent Hamas
from siphoning off supplies, but it has provided no evidence of
systematic diversion and U.N. agencies say they have mechanisms in place
to prevent it while delivering aid to all parts of the territory.
GHF says it has established four hubs, two of which have begun operating
in the now mostly uninhabited southern city of Rafah. They are guarded
by private security contractors and have chain-link fences channeling
Palestinians into a what resemble military bases surrounded by large
sand berms.
Israeli forces are stationed nearby in what Israel refers to as the
Morag corridor, a military zone separating Rafah from the rest of the
territory.
The U.N. and other humanitarian groups have refused to participate in
GHF’s system, saying it violates humanitarian principles. They say it
can be used by Israel to forcibly displace the population by requiring
them to move near the few distribution hubs or else face starvation, a
violation of international law.
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Palestinians carry boxes containing food and humanitarian aid
packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a
U.S.-backed organization approved by Israel, in Rafah, southern Gaza
Strip, on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that “there
was some loss of control momentarily” at the distribution point,
adding that "happily, we brought it under control.”
He repeated that Israel plans to move Gaza’s entire population to a
“sterile zone” at the southern end of the territory while troops
fight Hamas elsewhere. Netanyahu has also vowed to facilitate what
he refers to as the voluntary emigration of much of Gaza's
population to other countries, a plan for what Palestinians and
others view as forcible expulsion.
Israel says it destroyed the Houthis' last plane
The Israeli strikes on the main airport in Yemen destroyed the last
plane belonging to the country’s flagship carrier Yemenia, according
to the airport.
Yemenia had a total of four aircraft registered, according to the
plane tracking website FlightRadar24. Israel destroyed three of the
planes in a May 6 airstrike on the airport, which also riddled the
runway with craters.
Footage released by the airport on Wednesday showed a smoking
Yemenia plane shorn in half with debris cluttering the runway.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strikes on Wednesday
destroyed the last plane used by the Houthis.
The Houthis have targeted Israel throughout the war in Gaza in
solidarity with Palestinians, raising their profile at home and
internationally as the last member of Iran’s self-described “Axis of
Resistance” capable of launching regular attacks on Israel.
The Houthi missiles have mostly been intercepted, although some have
penetrated Israel’s missile defense systems, causing casualties and
damage. Israel has frequently struck back against the rebels in
Yemen, especially around the vital Hodeida port.
Netanyahu said that Israel would continue to strike as long as the
Houthis continued launching missiles towards Israel. “Whoever
doesn’t understand it by force — will understand it by more force,”
he said.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern
Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians,
and abducting 251. Hamas still holds 58 hostages, around a third of
them believed to be alive. Most of the rest were released in
ceasefire deals or other agreements. Israeli forces have rescued
eight and recovered dozens of bodies.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed over 54,000 Palestinians,
according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It says women and children make
up most of the dead but does not distinguish between civilians and
combatants in its tally.
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