A disturbing video has emerged showing Israeli military personnel pepper-spraying desperate and starving Palestinian aid seekers at a distribution point of the US-backed GHF aid agency in Gaza. The 20-second video, verified by fact-checking agency Sanad, shows three armed soldiers using pepper spray against the Palestinians at the aid point in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah.
Men, women, and children can be seen running in all directions away from the soldiers, some covering their mouths with their clothes, others frantically rushing to leave the scene with bags of flour hoisted on their backs. This incident comes as Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza continues to claim lives, with at least 54 more Palestinians killed on Sunday, 51 of them aid seekers.
Since the GHF started operating in Gaza in late May, at least 891 people have been killed while trying to get food, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. A July 15 report by the United Nations found that at least 674 of those people were killed “in the vicinity of GHF sites.” The aid operation has effectively sidelined Gaza’s vast UN-led aid delivery network after Israel eased a more than two-month total blockade on the enclave.
Mahmoud Mokeimar, a Palestinian in Gaza, described the chaos at the GHF hub, saying, “The occupation opened fire at us indiscriminately.” He witnessed at least three motionless bodies on the ground and many wounded people fleeing. “Unless Israel allows more food into Gaza, Palestinians have no choice but to risk their lives just for something to eat,” said Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in Gaza.
The situation on the ground is dire, with Palestinians, including infants and toddlers, continuing to die from starvation across Gaza. Four-year-old Razan Abu Zaher died of complications from malnutrition and hunger, according to a source at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza City. The director of al-Shifa Hospital reported two Palestinians dying of starvation, including a 35-day-old infant.
The Health Ministry said starving Palestinians are arriving in hospital emergency departments across Gaza in “unprecedented numbers,” as Israel continues to severely restrict access to food in Gaza and shoot people seeking aid. Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 58,765 people and wounded 140,485 others. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.