Gaza: Israel's aid system descends into chaos as crowds storm distribution site

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Food charity World Central Kitchen said Tuesday that Israeli authorities are continuing to prevent aid from entering Gaza.

"WCK still cannot bring desperately needed aid into Gaza. While the IDF has allowed some WCK trucks into the Kerem Shalom crossing, this aid is being held just inside the border and the IDF has not yet provided safe routes for bringing the supplies to our kitchens," it wrote in a post on X.

Israeli agency COGAT earlier blamed the UN for the pile up of aid at the border, an accusation a Gaza-based UN official called "beyond cynical".

Update—WCK still cannot bring desperately needed aid into Gaza. While the IDF has allowed some WCK trucks into the Kerem Shalom crossing, this aid is being held just inside the border and the IDF has not yet provided safe routes for bringing the supplies to our kitchens. The… pic.twitter.com/Y0xpKHoLer

— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) May 27, 2025

The Trump administration plans to continue pressing countries and international agencies to work with the NGO Israel is using to circumvent the UN-led humanitarian efforts in Gaza and militarise aid delivery.

Relief groups and European nations have condemned Israel and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation for trying to impose a politically-motivated aid system, and have refused to cooperate with the initiative.

The scheme descended into chaos within hours of starting on Tuesday after thousands of people stormed the Rafah distribution site.

A UN official has hit back at Israeli authorities, who earlier accused the organisation of failing to fulfil its commitments to collect aid from the border.

COGAT - an Israeli government agency that works in the occupied territories - had claimed that hundreds of trucks of aid were waiting to be collected at the border and blamed the UN for causing delays.

"It is beyond cynical to blame humanitarian workers risking their lives in Gaza for not being able to do more. The reality is that Israel is failing to enable our work and people are dying as a result."" a Gaza-based UN official told The Times of Israel.

"For 80 days, Israel blocked every effort to bring lifesaving supplies into Gaza. Now, a trickle of aid is allowed in. But it is insufficient to lessen the desperation of a population that has been starved," the official said.

Gaza's Government Media Office has accused Israeli forces of killing three Palestinians and wounding 47 others during the chaos at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's aid distribution facility on Tuesday.

Thousands of desperate Palestinians stormed the facility on Tuesday just hours after it opened for the first time. Reports claimed that Israeli troops had opened fire amid the chaos.

The Israeli occupation forces, present in or around these areas, fired live bullets at hungry civilians who were invited to come to receive aid," the media office said in a statement.

"What happened today in Rafah is a true massacre and a full-fledged war crime committed in cold blood against civilians exhausted by the ongoing siege and starvation," it said.

US President Donald Trump last week told the Israeli prime minister not to do anything to jeopardise his administration's efforts to negotiate a nuclear agreement with Iran, according to Axios.

Trump officials are reportedly concerned that Israel could launch an attack against Iran's nuclear facilities or try to sabotage the ongoing nuclear talks.

In a phone call last week, Trump told Netanyahu that "he doesn't want him to antagonize at a time when he is trying to solve problems," a White House official told the news outlet.

Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli strike on south Lebanon killed one man on Tuesday, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

In a statement, the ministry said an "Israeli enemy strike" on a motorcycle killed one man in Yater, in south Lebanon's Bint Jbeil district.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack, which came after it said it killed a Hezbollah member in south Lebanon's Majdal Zoun on Monday.

Israel has continued to launch strikes on its northern neighbour despite the November truce that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, including two months of full-blown war.

(AFP)

Israel's prime minister acknowledged there was a "loss of control momentarily" on Tuesday when crowds of Palestinians rushed into a new aid centre in Gaza, but a senior military official said the distribution was nonetheless "a success".

"We worked out a plan with our American friends to have controlled distribution sites where an American company would distribute the food to Palestinian families... There was some loss of control momentarily. Happily, we brought it back under control," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech on Tuesday.

(AFP)

Israel's security cabinet secretly approved the construction of 22 new illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to Hebrew news media.

The plan was reportedly submitted by Defence Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

The US on Tuesday accused the UN and aid agencies of hypocrisy following widespread condemnation of Israel's decision to overhaul the aid distribution system in Gaza.

"It is unfortunate, because the issue here is giving aid to Gaza, and then suddenly it moves into complaints about style or the nature of who's doing it," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters, calling the criticism "the height of hypocrisy."

Belgium's top diplomat has called for sanctions on Israeli leaders and military officials for what he described as a "genocide" in Gaza.

"Only the word ‘genocide' can describe what is happening in Gaza," Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said in an interview with Belgian magazine Humo on Tuesday.

"As the foreign minister, it is not up to me to make such statements. But my personal opinion is that this is very close to genocide. I don't know what other horrors have yet to occur before that word can be used," said Prevot, who is also Belgium's deputy prime minister.

He continued: "I am in favor of sanctions against the military and political leaders on both sides and against the Jewish settlers who are forcibly evicting the Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank. It is no longer enough for the Belgian government to condemn the situation; actions are needed to make Israel move."

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's chief operating officer joined the executive director Jake Wood in resigning from his position last week, according to The Washington Post.

Announcing his resignation on Sunday, Wood said he could not work with the Israeli government's aid distribution system because it did not conform to humanitarian principles.

David Burke has not commented on the reasons for his departure.

John Acree, a former USAID official who served as the GHF mission director in Gaza, has been named acting executive director following Wood's resignation, according to The Washington Post.

The UN's special rapporteur for housing has condemned today's chaotic scenes at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's distribution site, describing Israel's militarised aid system as "sadistic".

"US-Israeli crime of crimes using aid delivery to humiliate, kill and torture," Balakrishnan Rajagopal, UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, wrote on social media.

The Irish cabinet on Tuesday approved draft legislation that would impose a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine. 

Ireland does not import many goods from the occupied territories, making the move largely symbolic, though the government expressed hope that it will encourage other European countries to cease trading with settlements.

"What I hope today is when this small country in Europe makes the decision and becomes one of the first countries, and probably the first country, in the western world to consider legislation in this space, I do hope it inspires other European countries to join us," Foreign Minister Simon Harris told reporters.

Twenty-six people have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since dawn on Tuesday, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

The founder of food charity World Central Kitchen has slammed the "selfish" Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and called for Israel to allow the current UN-coordinated aid system to remain in place.

"The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has left Palestinians without food. The people that created it are selfish. And now because people are really hungry just stormed the distribution place damaging the fence," Chef Jose Andres wrote in a post on X on Tuesday.

Operations at GHF's first distribution site descended into chaos on its first day on Tuesday after thousands of desperate Palestinians stormed the site to retrieve aid.

More than two dozen health centres and mobile clinics and one hospital have been forced to suspend operations since last Monday due to the ongoing Israeli bombardment and new displacement orders, the spokesperson for the UN secretary-general said at today's press briefing.

The Israeli military has intensified its targeting of hospitals across the strip this month as it pushes ahead with a devastating offensive to take full control of the Palestinian territory.

Scenes from southern Gaza of thousands of people rushing an Israel-backed group's aid distribution site were "heartbreaking," UN chief Antonio Guterres's spokesperson said Tuesday.

"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," 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.

(AFP and TNA staff)

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation - the NGO tasked by Israel with distributing aid in Gaza - is funded by Israeli intelligence and the defence ministry, Israeli opposition politician Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday.

How the organisation is being funded has remained shrouded in mystery. It confirmed last week that it had received a $100 million donation but refused to disclose the donor.

Lieberman is a right-wing nationalist politician belonging to the Yisrael Beiteinu party, and has served in several senior cabinet positions over the past two decades.

הכסף לסיוע ההומניטרי מגיע מהמוסד וממשרד הביטחון. מאות מיליוני דולרים על חשבון אזרחי ישראל.

— אביגדור ליברמן (@AvigdorLiberman) May 27, 2025

Israel's Defence Ministry says it has now received over 90,000 tonnes of military equipment since the start of its war on Gaza, with the arrival of the 800th cargo flight.

In a statement, the ministry said the shipments, coordinated with its US mission and other branches of the Israeli military, have included munitions, armoured vehicles, protective gear, and medical supplies.

The deliveries have come by air and sea, totalling around 800 flights and 140 maritime shipments.

A photograph released by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), allegedly showing aid distribution in Tel al-Sultan, west of Rafah in southern Gaza, has faced allegations of fabrication.

The image, circulated early on Tuesday, shows fewer than 20 individuals receiving food parcels at a site newly established by the Israeli military for the US-backed foundation.

The recipients appear dressed in unusually clean clothing, inconsistent with Gaza's current conditions, with their faces deliberately obscured, prompting accusations that the scene was staged to fabricate a sense of success.

Read the full story here.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation reports distributing around 8,000 food boxes, enough for 462,000 meals, since its operations began.

These numbers have not yet been independently verified. For many on the ground, the aid is insufficient to meet the massive scale of hunger.

The Gaza Government Media Office has condemned Israeli forces for allegedly opening fire on civilians at the aid site.

It called the incident "proof of the failure of the so-called humanitarian track", adding that "starving civilians stormed the area under the crushing weight of hunger and were met with bullets".

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US-backed relief body, has admitted it lost control of its aid site in Rafah after large crowds overwhelmed the distribution effort.

The group said its team withdrew to prevent casualties and allow civilians to "take aid safely".
 

Israeli tank and gunfire could be heard as large crowds of Palestinians tried to reach an aid centre in southern Gaza. There was no immediate word on whether there were any casualties, AP reports. 

The firing came as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians walked through Israeli military lines to reach the distribution hub set up on the outskirts of Rafah by a US-backed group that Israel has slated to take over food distribution in Gaza.

Palestinians in the war-battered territory are starving after Israel blockaded the Strip of all humanitarian relief for nearly three months.
Israel’s new distribution plan – backed by the United States – has been widely criticised by established aid agencies such as the UN.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported that 19 Palestinians were wounded by live fire in Nablus during Israeli army raids on money exchange shops across the West Bank, including Jenin, Tubas, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, and Hebron.

Among the injured were two shot, including a 15-year-old, and 15 others affected by tear gas inhalation.

The Gaza Health Ministry reported that at least 79 people were killed and 163 wounded in the past 24 hours due to Israeli attacks, bringing the overall death toll since the war’s start to 54,056 with 123,129 injured.

The update excluded figures from the North Governorate due to restricted access. Many victims remain trapped under rubble or in inaccessible areas as emergency crews face severe challenges reaching them.

The Houthi armed group in Yemen claimed responsibility for firing two missiles towards Israel, including one targeting Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport and another aimed at an unspecified eastern Israeli target. T

he attacks were stated to be retaliation for Israeli settlers’ storming of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

The Houthis claimed the operation disrupted airport traffic and forced sheltering, although Israeli forces reported intercepting the missiles without damage. The group condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza as a historic crime and called for global solidarity with Palestinians.

Palestinian traders in Jerusalem's Old City returned to their shops on Tuesday to clean up a day after a march by Israeli nationalists that saw scuffles, insults and acts of vandalism.

On Tuesday, metal shutters protecting the shopfronts bore the marks of the parade's passing, with padlocks blocked and stickers slapped upon them. Some had to use crowbars, hammers and wirecutters to regain access to their own shops after many were vandalised during the Jerusalem Day march the day before.

When employees of an east Jerusalem electricity supplier arrived at their office they discovered the front windows broken and the door blocked.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday began a two-day visit to Oman, which is mediating ongoing nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington.

Pezeshkian travelled Muscat looking to promote "peace and stability", he said, two days after US President Donald Trump described the latest negotiations as "very, very good".

"We hope to engage in dialogue to reach a shared perspective and a common voice on promoting peace and stability in the region," Pezeshkian said in a televised speech before departure.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei confirmed on Monday that the visit would address the ongoing nuclear talks.

Israel and Syria are in direct contact and have in recent weeks held face-to-face meetings aimed at calming tensions and preventing conflict in the border region between the two longtime foes, five people familiar with the matter said.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject for two nations with no official ties and a history of enmity. The direct talks and their scope have not been previously reported.

On the Syrian side, the sources said contacts have been led by senior security official Ahmad al-Dalati, who was appointed governor of the province of Quneitra, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, after the fall of Assad. Earlier this week, Dalati was also put in charge of security in the southern province of Sweida, home to Syria's Druze minority.

Reuters could not determine who participated on Israel's side, though two of the sources said they were security officials.

Three of the sources said there had been several rounds of in-person meetings in the border region, including in territory controlled by Israel. (Reuters Exclusive)

The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) dismissed the involvement of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in aid distribution as a "distraction" from essential needs such as reopening border crossings and securing Israeli approvals for emergency supplies.

Jens Laerke, UN spokesperson, called for all crossings into Gaza to be reopened immediately to facilitate the delivery of critical aid. The GHF reportedly began distributing supplies on Monday.

The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement condemned the US-backed aid distribution mechanism in Gaza, branding it a tool of "starvation and siege" aimed at breaking Palestinian resolve.

The group labelled the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation a "security institution" intended to disrupt Gaza’s social fabric and urged Palestinians to avoid cooperation, accusing the organisation of advancing Israeli territorial ambitions.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen denounced as "abhorrent" Israel's deadly wave of strikes on civilian facilities in Gaza including a school, during a call with Jordan's King Abdullah II on Tuesday.

Rescuers said Israeli strikes killed at least 52 people in the Gaza Strip Monday, 33 in a school-turned-shelter, in a renewed offensive to destroy Hamas that has drawn international condemnation.

"The expansion of Israel's military operations in Gaza targeting civilian infrastructure, among them a school that served as a shelter for displaced Palestinian families, killing civilians, including children, is abhorrent," von der Leyen said, according to an EU readout of the call.

Hamas denounced the 'Jerusalem Day' march by Israeli settlers, which included far-right ministers and was marked by provocative chants such as "Death to Arabs".

Haroun Nasser al-Din, a Hamas political bureau member, condemned the "barbaric incursions" during the parade through Jerusalem’s Old City, calling the event a failed attempt to impose Zionist sovereignty over Palestinian holy sites.

He pledged that the occupation would end and urged Palestinians to intensify their resistance in all forms.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo urged the international community to intensify pressure on Israel to allow immediate humanitarian aid into Gaza, where civilians face severe shortages of food and medicine.

Speaking in Helsinki, Merz described the suffering in Gaza as "excessive" and stressed that aid must reach those in need, while also warning that Hamas must not block aid deliveries.

Earlier, Merz voiced sharp criticism of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, questioning their objectives and condemning the impact on civilians. Orpo called the situation a "terrible human catastrophe", demanding swift global action.

Meanwhile, Sweden summoned Israel's ambassador, condemning the conduct of the war and urging Israel to permit aid access.

Israeli forces raided foreign exchange stores in several West Bank cities including Ramallah and Nablus on Tuesday, accusing their parent company of "connections with terrorist organisations", according to an army closure notice.

"Israeli forces are taking action against Al-Khaleej Exchange Company due to its connections with terrorist organisations", a leaflet left at the company's Ramallah location read.

Two army vehicles escorted one of the store's employees away from the premises.In the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli forces raided a second foreign exchange store belonging to the Al-Khaleej company, as well as a gold store, according to another AFP journalist.

Some Palestinian residents of Nablus were seen clashing with the army during the raid, throwing objects at troops.

A renewed Israeli military offensive has forcibly displaced almost 180,000 people in just 10 days through to May 25, the International Organisation for Migration said on Tuesday.

The statement on behalf of the Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster expressed deep alarm and denounced direct attacks on shelters, which it said had become "common".

Israel's attorney general has said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nomination of an army major general as head of domestic intelligence is "illegal", after the supreme court found his move to sack the incumbent chief unlawful.

Netanyahu named David Zini as his pick to lead the Shin Bet last week, after months of legal and political wrangling over his attempt to dismiss the current chief Ronen Bar. In a letter to Netanyahu obtained by AFP on Tuesday, Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara pointed to the recent "court decisions regarding the end of the Shin Bet director's mandate".

"Your decision regarding major general Zini, made in a situation of conflict of interest and contradicting the conclusions of the judgment as well as the judicial directives in force, is illegitimate and illegal," she said.

The prime minister announced Zini's selection a day after the supreme court ruled the government's decision to fire Bar was "improper and unlawful".

Israeli opposition figure Yair Lapid has condemned this year’s Jerusalem Day celebrations, describing them as a "violent and degrading" display that included chants inciting violence against Palestinians.

"Jerusalem Day was celebrated yesterday with a violent and degrading parade, with the singing of ‘may your village burn’ and mocking songs about the children who are dying in Gaza," Lapid posted on X.

He also invoked the legacy of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, one of Israel’s most prominent religious thinkers, questioning what he would have thought of the spectacle. "Actually, we know," Lapid said. "Love for people should be alive in the heart of man … even towards peoples who are not from our world."

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has warned that just six of its 22 health centres in Gaza remain operational amid Israel’s ongoing military campaign and near-total siege of the territory.

In a statement posted on X, UNRWA said the remaining health facilities are overwhelmed, and while 37 mobile medical points are still active, the Strip faces a critical shortage of medicine and basic supplies.

"Unhindered access to deliver lifesaving aid including medicine and basic medical supplies is urgently needed," the agency said.

Israel released several Palestinian prisoners on Monday who had been detained during the ongoing genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, after months of detention during which they faced starvation and torture.

The Prisoners' Information Office (affiliated with Hamas) said in a statement that "several Gaza prisoners released from occupation prisons arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip".

The office published the names of 11 prisoners, but did not specify the total number of prisoners released. The office did not provide details about the prisoners' health conditions, but they typically arrive in the Gaza Strip in deteriorating health conditions, and some suffer from injuries resulting from the severe torture they are subjected to in Israeli detention.

A group of far-right activists have gathered at Israel’s port of Ashdod, which is located around 30km away from the besieged Gaza Strip, to block aid from entering.

Images shared online show protesters standing in front of the aid trucks as they left the port gates.

פעילי ימין הגיעו לנמל אשדוד כדי לחסום משאיות סיוע המיועדות לעזה.
צילום: צו 9 pic.twitter.com/uKxPokPKCz

— ישראל היום (@IsraelHayomHeb) May 27, 2025

The Israeli military said Tuesday it intercepted a missile and another projectile fired from Yemen, where Houthi rebels have regularly launched attacks they say are in response to Israel's offensive in Gaza.

"Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted," the Israeli military wrote on Telegram.

It said in a separate statement that a projectile was intercepted by the air force, without sirens being activated.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Media Office has confirmed that Israeli forces conducted arrests in Nablus and Hebron amid military operations across the occupied West Bank. 

Two Palestinians were arrested during a raid on the Askar al-Jadeed refugee camp, east of Nablus, and two others in Beit Ummar, north of Hebron.

The latest detentions take the total to at least 10,068 Palestinians arrested.  

A bipartisan US congressional delegation met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where they expressed support for Israel's ongoing military campaign in Gaza, according to statements released by Netanyahu's office.

The delegation, led by Republican Congressman Mike Lawler, included Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and Republican Congressman Michael McCaul. Lawler reportedly described Netanyahu’s war policy as having "changed the Middle East and turned it into a safer place".

Netanyahu thanked the US for what he called its "steadfast and unwavering support" of Israel’s war effort. In a social media post, Lawler praised the "ironclad alliance" between Washington and Tel Aviv.

It was a pleasure to meet with Prime Minister @netanyahu in Jerusalem to discuss regional security and our ironclad alliance. The U.S. remains committed to Israel’s defense as we look towards diplomatic solutions for a lasting peace. https://t.co/e6GYuI9FHh

— Congressman Mike Lawler (@RepMikeLawler) May 26, 2025

Israeli ground troops, accompanied by military bulldozers, entered Lebanese territory near Meiss el-Jabal in the Marjayoun district on Monday, according to Lebanon's state-run NNA news agency.

The United Nations has documented the killing of more than 70 civilians in Lebanon since late November, when a ceasefire was agreed between Israel and Hezbollah.

A 20-year-old Palestinian man, Ahmed Jalayta, was killed by Israeli forces during a military raid in the Al-Arab neighbourhood of Jericho early Monday.

The young man died after being shot during the attack. Israeli forces have intensified operations across the occupied West Bank in recent months, frequently launching raids that result in arrests, injuries, and fatalities.

A US official familiar with the Steve Witkoff-led negotiations told Al Jazeera that claims made by Hamas about accepting a ceasefire proposal are "inaccurate".

According to the official, Hamas’s position remains "disappointing and completely unacceptable". Instead, Washington says it has put forward a temporary ceasefire proposal being considered by Israel. The proposal would see the return of half of the living Israeli captives, along with half of the deceased held in Gaza.

The US believes this could serve as an opening to more comprehensive diplomatic negotiations toward a longer-term ceasefire, though no breakthrough has yet been confirmed.

In Gaza, an early-morning Israeli strike on the Fahmi Al-Jarjawi school, where displaced people were sheltering, killed "at least 33, with dozens injured, mostly children", civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said Monday.

Another Israeli strike killed at least 19 people in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, Bassal said.

In Gaza City’s Al-Karama area, an Israeli airstrike killed a child and injured several others. Another attack targeted a home in the city’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, killing at least one person and wounding more.

Meanwhile, the body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli assault on Az-Zawayda, in the central Gaza Strip, was transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. The Israeli military continues its relentless assault amid rising civilian tolls and crumbling medical infrastructure.