Like many before, food distribution was announced in advance in a social media post that listed illustrations of smiling Palestinians receiving aid boxes.
However, this time, the invitation from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is different, with only illustrations of women.
“Tomorrow in our morning distribution in Saudi Arabia, women are welcome to receive a food box,” GHF Post said. “Men should avoid the location during this distribution.”
Mary Sheikh al-Eid wants to feed her seven children. Mary’s sister Khawla said her husband was killed earlier in the war and the family had been living on lentil soup for three weeks.
“Her kids and my kids told us not to go,” Khawla told the BBC. “Mary told me she thought it was because it was a woman’s day and the numbers wouldn’t be big.”
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) announces women-only aid distribution day on social media [GHF]
GHF’s food aid distribution system has been undermined by recent chaos and killings as it was implemented in May with support from Israel and the United States.
A large crowd was forced to walk long distances into the Israeli military zone and into the fences, surrounded by private security contractors and Israeli forces. Palestinian men mostly take risks, quarrel, and provide a box of food for their families.
For the 2 million people in Gaza, there are only four GHF distribution locations, but usually no more than two on any day.
On Thursday, the Mary and the Cora sisters set out early to aid sites in the southern region of Rafale. By the time they arrived, the scene had become chaotic.
“There are a lot of women groups, and the place seems out of control and they can’t unload and distribute assistance,” Khawla said. “They started spraying women with pepper spray and then brought stun grenades and started throwing them at the women to force them backwards.”
The sisters split in chaos. Khawla’s clothes were covered with pepper spray, so she called her sister and agreed to meet at their brother’s house.
Shortly after she called again, she felt something was wrong.
“This time, a stranger picked it up and told me that the owner of the phone was shot and taken to the Red Cross. [field hospital],” Khawla said.
“I called again, this time I was told she was shot. I ran around frantically and called again, but this time I was told the owner of this phone had been killed.”
Khawla Sheikh al-eid(R) says she was shot dead after she was separated at the aid site [BBC]
Since the establishment of the GHF aid system in late May, the United Nations said more than 1,000 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military while trying to obtain assistance at GHF distribution locations and near the United Nations and other aid convoys.
On Friday, a former U.S. soldier who worked with the GHF said he witnessed Israeli forces and security contractors shooting at the crowd.
Anthony Aguilar told the BBC that he had never seen such a “cruelty and unnecessary unnecessarily power to civilians, unarmed, hungry people”.
Israel has previously said its troops have issued a “warning” and are implementing “learnings learned”. It accused Hamas of inciting chaos near the aid site and questioned the number of reported deaths.
Mary Sheikh al-Eid’s daughter Woshasat (R) feels comforted at Nasser Hospital [BBC]
Medical staff at Khan Younis Nasser Hospital said Mary Sheikh al-Eid died of bullet injuries. She was one of two women killed on Thursday’s “Women’s Day”.
The BBC also spoke with Khadija Abu Anza, the family of the second woman who was killed.
An older sister Samah was with her and said they were going to the GHF aid location when Israeli tanks and troops arrived.
From a distance of only a few meters, troops first fired warning guns, and they told them to move backwards, Samama said on Friday.
“We started going back and she was hit by a bullet,” Sama said. “They shot her in the neck and she died immediately.”
“I tried to take her, her blood fell on me and a man helped me take her to Nasser Hospital. The aid point opened immediately after they opened the shot and let people in.”
In response to the BBC, the IDF said it had “identified suspects close to them, posing a threat to the troops” and “fired a warning shot” earlier on Thursday, but added that it was not known about the casualties.
It said that the lens was opened several hundred meters from the distribution site before opening hours.
Until May, UN agencies, other international organizations and charities provided most of the assistance to the Gaza population at 400 distribution sites across the territory.
Many in the aid community criticized the introduction of GHF as a way to undermine previous humanitarian systems and increase Israeli control over food distribution in Gaza, thus forcing people to enter dangerous military sites. The United Nations refuses to cooperate with the GHF system, calling it immoral.
In recent days, many European governments and aid groups have faced widespread condemnation of Israel’s control of food to Gaza.
Israel said it introduced the GHF system because Hamas was previously transferring and profiting from aid under a UN-led system, although it provided no evidence that this happened on a system basis.
The UN says more than 1,000 Palestinians have been recorded since late May, killings by more than 1,000 Palestinians seeking assistance [BBC]
Daily reports on malnutrition deaths are taking a pace in Gaza. Humanitarian officials say the territory must be submerged with aid to avoid a complete collapse.
Under international law, Israel, as a military force occupying Gaza, has an obligation to protect civilian lives – ensuring that people can find food to survive. However, Israel blames Hamas and aid agencies for the current shortage, while continuing to support the GHF distribution model.
“I pray to God that they were closed, it was a death trap,” said Mary’s sister Khawla. “She went to buy food for the children, but she was returned by someone carrying her body.”
Other reports from BBC’s Free Gaza team and BBC-verified Mohamed Shalaby
