Palestinians call U.S.-run aid sites in Gaza ‘death traps.’ They still go because there’s no alternative.

Kamel Agha, 32, left his tent in the al-Qarara area east of Khan Younis on Saturday, June 7, at 9:00 p.m. He walked toward the aid distribution point in Rafah run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), accompanied by several of his neighbors. Agha continued his trek until 4:00 a.m., with some breaks during the walk.

More than 1.5 kilometers from the Israeli army’s assembly points and more than 2 kilometers from the aid distribution point in Rafah, the Israeli military opened fire on the crowded civilians waiting for food for their families, Agha told Mondoweiss.

“What happened was that we hadn’t had a piece of bread in our house for weeks. I went to the aid distribution point hoping to get a meal,” says Agha. “But I didn’t think I’d return with a bullet through my shoulder instead of food.”

“We were more than a kilometer and a half from the aid distribution point, and while we were at this distance, the Israeli army began firing heavily at us. Soldiers, quadcopters, and tanks began killing us randomly. As I ran from death, I saw dozens of people lying bleeding on the ground. I saw hundreds of wounded people trying to escape, but no one could help them because we were running with death behind us and in front of us.”

Agha explains that he was shot because he went to try to provide food for his family. He emphasizes that if it weren’t for the hunger he and his family suffered from, he wouldn’t have gone to the aid distribution points, knowing the dangers that awaited him.

“We go to die to provide for our children — to get even one kilogram of flour,” he said.

Agha confirms that the bullet he was shot with had already killed someone before him, penetrating that person’s chest and exiting to hit him in the shoulder. “I was standing among the people, and when the army started shooting, a young man was in front of me. A bullet entered his chest and exited my shoulder,” he said. “We were close to the sea. We didn’t know which direction the bullets were coming from. The boats were shooting at us; the tanks were shooting at us; the soldiers were shooting at us.”

More than 13 people were killed that day in the Rafah area, according to the Government Media Office in the Gaza Strip.

It is one among numerous other incidents that have taken place at the GHF aid distribution points in southern and central Gaza on a near-daily basis. They have taken on a familiar pattern, in which thousands of starving civilians march in the predawn hours toward the distribution points, and upon arrival, are shot at by Israeli forces, leading to another aid massacre.

Israeli forces have killed 163 people and wounded 1,495 others at GHF centers as of June 10, according to the Government Media Office in Gaza.

Harrowing videos continue to flood social media showing starving Palestinians fighting over food parcels as GHF workers watch on without intervening, people carrying their loved ones away after being shot, and Israeli forces shooting at crowds.

These near-daily aid massacres have led Palestinians to regard the aid sites run by the U.S. organization as “massacre sites” and “death traps.”

The GHF as an instrument of Israeli starvation

The Government Media Office in Gaza has called the American organiztion “an arm of the Israeli occupation, not a humanitarian organization,” rejecting the GHF’s claims that Hamas is threatening its crews and preventing them from distributing aid. 

“The stark reality is that this organization is nothing more than a propaganda front for the Israeli army,” the Media Office said, accusing it of being a partner in the “crime of targeting civilians” by “using aid as bait.” 

The Media Office described the aid sites as “death traps under the guise of humanitarian work,” adding that “it is not a relief organization by any standard.”

Ahmad al-Najjar, 45, a father of six children displaced in Mawasi, Khan Younis, says, “I know they’re not aid centers; they’re massacre sites.” 

Najjar travels long distances to reach the GHF centers every time the Foundation announces that food is available at one of its locations. Sometimes he’s lucky, but other times he returns empty-handed.

“I know there’s a great risk with every step toward the American aid centers,” Najjar says. “But what’s the difference between dying there and dying in a tent bombing in Mawasi?”

“Death is everywhere in Gaza,” he continued. “Death from hunger, death from bombings, death trying to secure food for your children.” 

He points out that many people don’t go because of how degrading it is to try and grab a food parcel and due to the thieves who attack people and steal their rations at knifepoint. 

But Najjar maintains that not going to the aid center is equally risky.

“I will try by any means to bring food to my children instead of waiting for them to die one by one of hunger,” he explains. “I will risk going towards death to bring my children food.” 

“Maybe others can find food for their kids in another way, but I can’t,” he added.