(LifeSiteNews) — Chaos erupted in Gaza this past week when the Israeli military fired warning shots as Palestinians sought to obtain food from distribution sites.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is a U.S. non-profit operating four locations in the region with approval from the Israeli government. Israel says the arrangement, which has been criticized by the United Nations, is needed because Hamas terrorists steal food from ordinary citizens.
The UN has overseen humanitarian aid in Gaza since October 2023 and has long denied Israel’s claims about Hamas, arguing that the system now in place is not adequately providing for the needs of the country’s 2.3 million people.
According to multiple outlets, hundreds of thousands of famished Palestinians stormed one of the centers in Tel al-Sultan on Tuesday seeking nourishment. GHF staff fled for their safety after being overwhelmed. Israeli military then fired warning shots to maintain order.
The Red Cross has said that one person was killed and 48 others were wounded during the melee. The Associated Press reported similar sufferings took place.
On Wednesday, four Palestinians died while storming a food warehouse controlled by the UN in Deir Al-Balah. The UN described the pandemonium as “the latest sign of a hunger crisis spiraling out of control after 80 days of near-total blockade on aid into Gaza.”
#Gaza pic.twitter.com/hbJYa6iEv9
— WFP in the Middle East & North Africa (@WFP_MENA) May 28, 2025
Podcasters and commentators across the political spectrum have drawn attention to the situation, prompting many prominent persons to speak out.
On The Jimmy Dore Show, Keaton Weiss and Kurt Metzger expressed outrage over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. At one point, they shared an X post on the screen published by journalist Max Blumenthal criticizing the arrangement Netanyahu has set up.
“This is the aid model apartheid Israel and the Zionist-controlled Trump admin have conceived to subvert the UN system. It requires Gaza residents to march miles cross an active war zone, then be confined to a concentration camp as they wait for a meagre supply of food,” Blumenthal said.
On the Redacted podcast hosted by Clayton and Natali Morris, journalist Abubaker Abed argued that the Israeli distribution of aid is “not fair at all” and is being done to “dehumanize Palestinians.”
The distribution centers began operating this week after U.S. President Donald Trump publicly started calling for Israel to allow food and medical supplies to reach “the people of Gaza” back in April.
Multiple countries and international agencies have said the Israeli government’s blockade on supplies amounts to planned starvation, with The New York Times reporting that the situation is “catastrophic.”
On May 21, Pope Leo XIV addressed 40,000 attendees gathered in St. Peter’s Square, where he called for an end to the “increasingly worrying and painful” situation in Gaza.
“I renew my heartfelt appeal to allow the entry of decent humanitarian aid and to end the hostilities whose heartbreaking price is paid by children, the elderly, and the sick,” he said.
