Chaos in Rafah: Thousands Storm Aid Center in Gaza Amid Israeli-Controlled Distribution Failure
Israeli-Run Food Distribution Site Collapses on First Day as Starving Gazans Overrun American-Managed Facility.
Watan-Thousands of Palestinians rushed on Tuesday to a food aid distribution center in western Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on the first day of implementing Israel’s new aid distribution mechanism, leading to total chaos and the retreat of a U.S. private security company overseeing the site.
Palestinian security sources said that the masses stormed the distribution center — established by the Israeli army and operated by an American private security firm — seizing the aid in a chaotic stampede after control was lost.
The sources added that the security personnel quickly lost control on their first day of operation inside Gaza, prompting intervention by the Israeli army to evacuate them.
Israel’s public broadcaster (KAN) confirmed that Israeli forces intervened to extract the private security personnel after they failed to handle the crowds.
In response, Gaza’s Government Media Office stated that the Israeli army “has utterly failed in its discriminatory zone-based aid distribution project, as the humanitarian track collapses and the starvation crime escalates.”
The statement continued:“Thousands of starving civilians, besieged and denied food and medicine for nearly 90 days, surged toward these areas in a tragic scene. The chaos ended with the storming of distribution centers and seizure of food under fatal hunger, prompting Israeli forces to open fire and injure several civilians — clearly reflecting the total breakdown of the humanitarian process Israel claims to lead.”
It added:“What happened today is undeniable proof of the occupation’s failure to manage the humanitarian crisis it deliberately created through starvation, siege, and bombardment. This constitutes a continuation of a full-fledged genocide under international law, particularly Article II of the 1948 Genocide Convention.”
The media office held Israel directly responsible for “Gaza’s food system collapse and the use of aid as a weapon of war and political blackmail,” calling on the United Nations and Security Council to “act immediately to stop this crime and open the crossings without delay or restrictions.”
Meanwhile, the Gaza Relief Foundation, which operates the distribution centers with U.S. support, said the overwhelming demand forced it to step back to avoid injuries.
في اليوم الأول لها.. فشل وإخفاق عناصر الشركة الأمريكية في توزيع المساعدات بعد إطلاق الاحتلال النار على المكان غرب رفح جنوب القطاع pic.twitter.com/6M2w94jdMn
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) May 27, 2025
It stated:“The number of aid seekers at the site was at one point so high that our team had to retreat to allow people to receive aid safely and facilitate distribution,” alleging that “delays were caused by Hamas-imposed movement restrictions.”
The organization said it has so far distributed around 8,000 food boxes, totaling 462,000 meals.
Social media activists circulated videos showing the moment thousands of Palestinians stormed the aid distribution center in western Rafah.
Palestinian media reported that American personnel lost control of the site and fled after Israeli forces fired live rounds at the scene.
