Israeli troops fire warning shots as Palestinians overwhelm new Gaza food center

MUWASI, Gaza Strip — Chaos erupted on the second day of aid operations by a new U.S.-backed group in Gaza as Palestinians overwhelmed a center distributing food on Tuesday, breaking through fences.

Nearby Israeli troops fired warning shots, sending people fleeing.

The Israeli military said its troops fired the warning shots in the area outside the center and that “control over the situation was established.”

The distribution hub outside Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah had been opened the day before by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been slated by Israel to take over aid operations.

In a statement, GHF said that because of the large number of Palestinians seeking aid, staff at the hub followed the group’s safety protocols and “fell back” to allow them to dissipate, then later resumed operations.

A spokesperson for the group told the AP that no shots were fired from GHF. Speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the group’s rules, the spokesperson said the protocols aim at “avoiding loss of life, which is exactly what happened.”

GHF uses armed private contractors to guard the hubs and the transportation of supplies. The hub is also close to Israeli military positions in the Morag Corridor, a band of territory across the breadth of Gaza that divides Rafah from the rest of the territory.

GHF has set up four hubs around Gaza to distribute food, two of which began operating on Monday — both of them in the Rafah area.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday commented on the turmoil at the Rafah center, saying, “There was some loss of control momentarily … 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.

Israel has said the new system is necessary because Hamas has been siphoning off supplies that reach Gaza.

COGAT, the Israeli military agency in charge of coordinating aid, said on Tuesday that 400 trucks of supplies, mainly food, was waiting on the Gaza side of the main crossing from Israel, but that the U.N. had not collected them. It said Israel has extended the times for collection and expanded the routes that the U.N. can use inside Gaza.

Meanwhile, Germany is considering restrictions on military exports to Israel.

While Germany will continue to support Israel, the extent of its backing will be discussed internally by the government, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Tuesday during a visit to Finland. He didn’t specify a time frame or what proposals were under consideration, and added that decisions might not be made public.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday echoed Merz’s tone, criticizing Israel’s military operations in Gaza.