US guards at aid distribution points in the Gaza Strip are opening fire on Palestinians who come to collect food, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday, based on video footage and testimonies from employees of the Gaza Humanitarian Fund /GHF/.
Two guards, who requested anonymity, said that their colleagues regularly use grenades and pepper spray against Palestinians, and also shoot in all directions - in the air, on the ground and sometimes at people. The security guards at the fund's facilities are often unqualified, do not undergo the necessary checks, but are given full authority to do whatever they want, the agency's interlocutors said.
According to them, as a result, "innocent people" suffer "unnecessarily". Gazans who come for humanitarian aid find themselves under fire from the Americans on one side and the Israeli military on the other.
In addition, according to information received by the Associated Press, the Americans at the aid distribution points provide Israel with information about those Palestinians who seem suspicious to them during the aid distribution.
One of the fund's main contractors, providing security at its points, is the American company Safe Reach Solutions. Its representative told the agency that no serious incidents have been recorded at any of the sites. He claims that shots were fired into the ground to attract the attention of people in the crowd.
Since late May, Israel, with the support of the United States, has begun implementing a new scheme for organizing aid for residents of the Palestinian enclave, which includes granting the GHF a de facto monopoly on the establishment of distribution centers and the distribution of food and essential goods.
All international organizations involved in providing aid to the sector, including those under the auspices of the United Nations, will now be able to do so only through this fund, according to the plan.
The program has drawn criticism, particularly for its intention to place distribution centers in "security zones" without hostilities in southern Gaza, which could lead to the forced displacement of residents of the enclave. The United Nations also fears that Israel is politicizing humanitarian aid and turning it into a tool for pressure on the Palestinians.