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Carrying empty sacks and plastic containers, many walked for hours in the hope of collecting basic food supplies for their families.
Gazans were forced to travel long, often dangerous distances – through active combat zones – to reach new, controversial aid distribution sites.
The journey was impossible for many disabled or injured people, as well as the elderly and families with small children.
Many of those who could, take the risk of being killed in an active war zone and of being shot during chaotic scenes at aid centres. They say the journey for aid was worth it.

Ahmed Bashir, 36, walked more than 12km to reach the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) centre. “My feet and back hurt,” said the father of several children, “but coming back with a parcel of food is a victory”.
The package – containing flour, rice, pasta, sugar, salt, and tea – can last a family about a week, Bashir estimated.
“Every morning I wake up wondering if I can feed my children today.”
Still, Bashir, who lives with his children in the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone after being driven from his home during Israel’s Gaza offensive, felt conflicted. “It feels like we’re being manipulated. Like they want us to forget where we come from.”
Israeli soldiers have been accused of opening fire and killing dozens of people seeking aid amid chaotic scenes during the distribution of food in the new centre in Rafah in Gaza’s south.

GHF employees have denied killings and say they fire warning shots when Palestinians rush to the front, forcing employees of the US company to retreat.
Most of the population in Gaza has been desperate for food since Israel began blocking all aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip in March, before it ended a ceasefire with the Islamist Hamas.
It has justified its moves as increasing pressure on the group to release the remaining hostages.
According to Israel, at least 20 hostages were still alive and being held in Gaza by Hamas or affiliated militant groups.
The fate of three other captives remains uncertain, while the bodies of 35 abductees have been identified. Former hostages have described their captivity as brutal, recounting experiences of torture, humiliation and being kept in chains.
Israel began its offensive in Gaza more than a year and a half ago after the Hamas-led attacks in October 2023, which killed around 1,200 people.

Israel’s offensive has since killed more than 53,000, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry. External analysis has suggested the death toll was significantly higher in reality.
According to the GHF, which was established just a few months ago, the controversial aid system requires one representative from each Palestinian family to visit a distribution centre every five days to collect a food parcel.
According to the organisation, around 8,000 food parcels have been distributed so far – each intended to sustain roughly five people for 3½ days – providing a total of approximately 462,000 meals.
In its initial phase, the system was expected to reach only about 60 per cent of Gaza’s population. Roughly 2 million Palestinians live in the war-torn territory, many of whom have been displaced multiple times by ongoing fighting.
With the establishment of four initial distribution points in the southern and central Gaza Strip, Israel has said it aimed to bypass the United Nations and other international aid organisations.
The stated goal was to prevent Hamas from intercepting supplies or profiting from them. However, UN officials have criticised the plan, noting that Israel has not provided concrete evidence that aid was being diverted by Hamas.

The United Nations has also warned that the new aid mechanism was both inefficient and unsafe. Critics have said the system failed to meet the basic standards of humanitarian relief and that Israel was using hunger to kettle starving civilians into Gaza’s south.
“Aid should be coordinated by the United Nations, not by an unknown foundation,” said Ibtisam Abu Salem, a nurse from central Gaza.
Adding to the disruption, deliveries were frequently halted whenever the Israeli army issued new evacuation orders – a recurring occurrence in the volatile region.
Many residents say they are physically and emotionally exhausted, worn down not only by fear of attacks but also by the repeated calls to flee their homes.
Many in Gaza express scepticism and mistrust of the new system. “We don’t know who is behind it,” said Ibrahim Abdul Jawad, who lives in the City of Gaza in the north.
He believed that people were afraid that the operators were working with the Israeli military and that there could be arrests or pressure to help Israeli intelligence services in the distribution centres.
The Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry has called on people to boycott the new distribution mechanism, claiming the new system was part of an intelligence-gathering operation.
“We don’t want any help from unknown groups,” said Abu Chalid, an elderly man who comes from Beit Lahia in the north of the coastal strip.
Forced to flee to Nuseirat in central Gaza during the war, he shared the concern about potential arrests at the newly established aid distribution centres.
“We trust [the UN agency for Palestinian refugees] because it has been here for decades,” said the Palestinian, who used to be a farmer.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) employs around 13,000 people in the Gaza Strip. Israel has accused the organisation of being infiltrated by the Islamist Hamas.
Israel has not provided evidence to back up its claim, which the UN body denies.


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Israel-Gaza war

The long, deadly walk Gazans are forced to take for a food parcel

A Palestinian man shows blood stains on his palm after he carried casualties among people seeking aid supplies from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Photo: Reuters

Israeli tanks positioned near an aid distribution centre. Photo: AP

Palestinians mourn beside the body of a man who was killed while heading to a Gaza aid hub. Photo: AP

Palestinians carry boxes and bags containing food and humanitarian aid. Photo: AP

An aid box with food. Photo: AP

More than 30 killed near Gaza aid distribution site, Israel denies firing

Displaced Palestinians return from a food distribution centre in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday. Gaza rescuers said Israeli gunfire killed several people. Photo: AFP

Displaced Palestinians, some carrying sacks of food, leave a distribution centre in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Israeli troops operating in the Gaza Strip. Photo: Israel Defence Forces via Xinhua

Palestinians pray during the funeral of a person who was killed while heading to a Gaza aid hub, along with three others who were killed during an Israeli strike. Photo: AP

At least 27 killed by Israeli fire near Gaza aid site, Palestinians say

Women at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis react following the death of Palestinians, in what the Gaza health ministry said was Israeli fire near an aid site in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters

Palestinians mourn by bodies. Photo: AFP

Palestinians carry bags filled with food and humanitarian aid in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Photo: AP

Israeli troops fire warning shots as desperate Palestinians rush into new Gaza food centre

Palestinians rush to get aid boxes in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

Displaced Palestinians with food packages. Photo: AFP

Palestinians carry boxes containing food and humanitarian aid packages. Photo: AP

Aid boxes contained basic food items like sugar, flour and pasta. Photo: AP

Trucks transport aid as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation commences distribution operations in Rafah on Monday. Photo: GHF via Reuters

Greta Thunberg joins aid ship sailing to Gaza aimed at breaking Israel’s blockade

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg during a press conference with the crew of the Madleen. Photo: EPA-EFE

Greta Thunberg aboard the Madleen boat before setting sail for Gaza. Photo: AP

Last month, aid vessel Conscience was attacked by two alleged drones while sailing in international waters off the coast of Malta. Photo: Government of Malta via Reuters

A girl eats a piece of bread as people check the site of an Israeli strike, in Jabalia in the central Gaza Strip. Photo: AFP

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Already facing famine and living in ruins, Gazans risk being shot at crowded aid centres just to get food


Already facing famine and living in ruins, Gazans risk being shot at crowded aid centres just to get food.


The long, deadly walk Gazans are forced to take for a food parcel

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Already facing famine and living in ruins, Gazans risk being shot at crowded aid centres just to get food

Already facing famine and living in ruins, Gazans risk being shot at crowded aid centres just to get food