Shots Fired, American Contractors Flee, As Starving Palestinians Overrun Aid Distribution Site 

The Israeli plan to oversee a US private mercenary firm's operations to distribute aid to starving Gazans is off to a very bad start & the optics are arguably even worse that Biden's failed Gaza floating pier scheme...

The incident happened at a US-backed group's aid distribution site in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is the linchpin in the new system which confines humanitarian food distribution to a small number of hubs which are under guard of armed contractors.

But in their first attempt, the organization's site got swarmed by an onrush of hungry Palestinians, after the UN earlier this month warned that some 500,000 people face famine. Israeli media confirms that the American contractors fled the scene.

Already the plan was ultra-controversial, and the emerging images will definitely escalate the international criticisms of the operation...

A Times of Israel report details:

Footage posted to social media showed crowds surging into the area and taking boxes of food.

The IDF, which secures the area around the facility, confirmed that troops fired warning shots outside the compound, but denied reports claiming it opened fire from a helicopter or towards the center itself.

A military source said an Israeli Air Force helicopter was operating over the sea at the time of the incident, but not anywhere close to the distribution site.

“Control over the situation was established, food distribution operations are expected to continue as planned, and the safety of IDF troops was not compromised,” the military added.

According to Palestinian reports, the American security personnel charged with securing the area fled the scene. There were no reports of casualties in the incident.

This has prompted a Tuesday statement from UN chief Antonio Guterres's office insisting on an "operationally sound plan." The statement called the scenes on the ground "heartbreaking".

"We have been watching the video coming out of Gaza around one of the distribution points set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. And frankly, these video, these images, are heartbreaking to say the least," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

"As the Secretary-General noted last week, we and our partners have a detailed, principled, operationally sound plan supported by Member States to get aid to desperate population," he added.

Some emerging footage appears to show warning shots being fired as crowd control broke down:

Local journalist Mohammed Abu Armana has written of the aid group at the site:

The foundation, accused of being a political tool rather than a relief entity, has no humanitarian track record and operates without transparency or regulation. Despite repeated calls, Israel continues to block established and legal aid agencies like UNRWA and the World Food Programme from delivering assistance, obstructing organized and safe humanitarian operations in Gaza. 

The CEO of the organization just resigned, it turns out. "Jake Wood, the American heading the effort, said Sunday night he was resigning because it was clear the organization would not be allowed to operate independently," according to the Associated Press.

While aid is barely getting in, we do what is being shipped in very large quantifies...

Just last week, we featured the report: Mercenary Firm Set To Oversee Gaza Aid For Israel Goes On LinkedIn Hiring Spree.

Below: appearances of some of the contractors at the distribution site:

A mercenary firm identified as Safe Reach Solutions, or SRS, has been actively recruiting for "Humanitarian Liaison Officers" on LinkedIn and elsewhere, who will "serve as vital connectors between our operational teams and the broader humanitarian community," according to one job description. The head of the security firm is known to be close friends with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Meanwhile...

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has hit back publicly, and has surprisingly gone after the United Nations: "The UN still refuses to do its job," a statement on X said.