Thousands of Palestinians collect aid from a hub in Rafah set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on May 27. Credit - Hani Alshaer - Getty Images At least one Palestinianwas killedand 48 others wounded while collecting aid from a distribution hub in Rafah, Gaza's Health Ministry said Wednesday. Crowds of Palestinians had broken through chain fences on Tuesday where thousands massed in an attempt to reach aid distributed under a controversial new U.S. and Israeli-backed organization, theGaza Humanitarian Foundation(GHF). Read More:$25 Butter and $40 Eggs: The Search for Food in Gaza Adjith Sunghay, head of the U.N. Human Rights Office for the Palestinian territories,saidit appeared that the casualties were a result of Israeli gunfire. Witnesses said Israeli forces started shooting after crowds broke through the fences around the aid distribution site as gunfire was heard in the distance,The Guardian reported. But IDF spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said Tuesday in a statement that the Israeli military "did not carry out any aerial fire toward the humanitarian aid distribution center" but "fired warning shots in the area outside the compound." The Israel Defense Forces have not yet responded to TIME's request for comment. Israel has said it helped set up GHFto stop Hamas from stealing aid, but has provided no evidence of the systematic siphoning of aid.The U.N. and other agencies have rejectedGHF's aid distribution system, which uses U.S. security contractors, as unethical and unworkable. "We warned against the militarized & politicized aid hubs that today ended in chaos and aid stolen & diverted from families in need. This fiasco could have been averted if our normal humanitarian system had not been blocked for months by Israel," Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, wroteon X. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday "there was some loss of control momentarily" at the GHF distribution hub but that "happily, we brought it under control." Food security experts and aid groups have warned of an"imminent risk of famine"since Israel ended a two-month ceasefire on March 2 and launched a total blockade of Gaza. Israel said the measures were to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages held in Gaza. Astatementfrom Prime Minister Netanyahu's office on May 19 said Israel would ease the blockade and let in a "basic" amount of food to Gaza. The statement came hours after the IDF began a major ground offensive dubbed Gideon's Chariots that would "take control of all areas" of the Strip. On Sunday, the head of GHF, Jake Wood,stepped downciting concerns over the humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality and urged Israel to allow more aid into the Strip. The resignation came a day beforeGHF was due to begin distribution. In a statement on Wednesday, the head of the U.N.'s Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA) for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Jonathan Whittall, said that the "new distribution model cannot possibly meet Gaza's needs." GHFsaid on Sundaythat 1 million Palestinians, just under half of those living in Gaza, would be given supplies by the end of the week. Amid a lack of access to food and supplies, Israel has issued displacement orders as part of the expanded ground offensive. OCHA said Tuesday that an estimated 632,000 people have been displaced since Operation Gideon's Chariots began earlier this month. Contact usatletters@time.com.
