US Group Suspends Gaza Operations After All Hell Broke Loose At Aid Site

On Wednesday Reuters is reporting that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the controversial US-backed aid organization whose distribution sites are protected by American mercenaries, has suspended its operations in Gaza “due to disorder.”

Gaza’s Government Media Office announced in a statement, “We confirm that the ‘Israeli’ occupation’s project to distribute aid in the so-called ‘buffer zones’ has failed miserably, according to field reports and according to what was announced by the Hebrew media as well.” Israel has rejected the charge, instead blaming unruly Palestinian masses, Hamas, and criminal gangs who have long looted aid stores in the Strip.

“Thousands of starving people, besieged by the occupation and cut off from food and medicine for about 90 days, rushed toward those areas in a tragic and painful scene, which ended with the storming of distribution centers and the seizure of food,” it added.

The very public fiasco and chaotic scene at one of the first distribution sites set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation outside Rafah on Tuesday was subject of international outrage and condemnation, including by the UN. The GHF has come under scrutiny for lack of experience and a firm track record.

As we had detailed the American security firm lost control of starving crowds and quickly withdrew from the area as the security situation rapidly broke down, resulting in Palestinians seizing the aid amid mayhem, soon after which Israeli aircraft swooped down to help clear the area. 

Gunshots were heard, and there are reports the US contractors were using warning shots as crowd control, and amid the onrush. Below is a montage of footage in a Reuters report:

GHF had only begun distributing aid since Monday. Israeli media reviews that “While technically an American company, GHF was established earlier this year in close coordination with Israeli authorities who felt existing aid distribution mechanisms led by the UN and other international organizations were insufficient in preventing the diversion of aid by Hamas.”

Hamas has reportedly threatened its operations, also amid US accusations that Hamas and other criminal groups had been routinely stealing and reselling international aid which entered the Strip previously throughout the war. The new plan was as follows:

Israel wanted to create a small number of distribution sites where pre-selected familial representatives would be able to pick up a heavy box full of food for their families in a zone secured and operated by American private contractors.

Emerging reports say at least one person was shot dead in these latest distribution efforts:

At least one civilian was killed and 48 wounded when Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians, after the group chosen by Israel to ship food into Gaza lost control of its distribution center, health officials reported.

Witnesses said Israeli forces started shooting after crowds of Palestinians broke through the fences on Tuesday around the distribution site, as an Israeli military helicopter fired flares and bursts of gunfire were heard in the distance. In one video, a large crowd of panicked civilians, including women and children, can be seen running away from the distribution site, trampling the fencing.

Below: several Middle East publications have slammed the Israeli/US-backed aid scheme as “dehumanization by design”:

‘Dehumanisation by design’: US-Israeli Gaza aid operation descends into chaoshttps://t.co/JK04rKebVr

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 28, 2025

But amid looming famine, it appears that once word gets out, there is a rush toward the location. Whatever site is set up becomes a big target for mayhem (or worse, potential armed attacks), and likely it doesn’t help that it’s well understood that US mercenaries are guarding the centers.