Yazan Musleh, 13, has a large white bandage on his thin torso and is lying in a hospital bed set up in a tent on the grounds of Nasser Hospital.
His father, Ihab, is agitated by the bloody dawn his sons and he and his sons experienced on Sunday when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of people gathering for aid from the Israeli-conceived and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Yazan and his 15-year-old brother Yazid had been transported by Ihab, 40, to the Rafah distribution point where the GHF operates from their shelter in al-Mawasi, Khan Younis.
They made the journey to the al-Alam Roundabout in Rafah, which is close to the distribution point, before dawn, and spent about an hour and a half walking there.
Ihab told his sons to wait for him on an elevation close to the GHF gates because they were concerned about the size of the crowded, hungry crowd.
He claims that as I looked behind the hill, I noticed several tanks close by. “I started to feel fear.” What if something went wrong or they started shooting? I prayed for protection from God.
Heavy gunfire erupted from all directions as the crowd gathered near the gates.
“I was terrified,” he said. He recalls that I saw Yazan get shot and collapse as I turned to my sons on the hill right away.
Yazid, who is also by his brother’s bedside, describes the traumatic events.
Our father said, “We were standing on the hill when the tanks suddenly started to fire.” He asserts. “My brother was immediately struck in the stomach.”
“It was horrifying to see his intestines pour out.” Then, in a donkey cart, he was rushed to the hospital.
Ihab was trying to fight the crowd while avoiding the shots that were still ringing out by the gates while attempting to reach his sons.
“Shooting was coming from quadcopters and tanks in every direction.”
I observed people assisting my son before dragging him away.
Ihab ran toward Nasser Hospital in hopes that Yazan had been taken there when he was able to escape the crowd. He claims it lasted more than an hour.
He discovered Yazan had undergone surgery at Nasser Hospital.
I finally took a breath. I thanked God that he was still alive. He claims that I had lost all hope.
Yazan’s intestines and spleen were torn up, and doctors now recommend lengthy, intensive treatment for him.
Iman, his mother, sits next to him and ponders why anyone would shoot at people who are trying to get food. The youngest of the five children, who is seven months old, is a girl, is from her and Ihab’s family.
I went to my children’s school to get food. Ihab claims that human habitation is killing us.
We are desperate because these aid distributions are well known and humiliating, but we are aware of this. My children are starving, and I’m desperate, but we are still shot at, right?
He claims that he had previously tried to get aid, but both times he ended up empty-handed.
There was a deadly stampede the first time. We hardly managed to escape. My son was hurt once more and did nothing, he claims.
He is aware that he can’t give up trying.
I’ll take my family’s safety. Either I survive or I pass away. I need help desperately. We are being killed by hunger.
The organization giving aid
The GHF, which was first introduced in early 2025 and is intended to “secure the distribution points,” is operated by private US military contractors.
Jake Wood, the GHF’s director, resigned two days before the distribution began, citing concerns that the organization would not adhere to humanitarian law or be impartial.
The Boston Consulting Group, which had been involved in the foundation’s planning and execution, withdrew its team and canceled its partnership with GHF five days later, on May 30.
The GHF and its methods have received unanimous criticism from international aid organizations.
We searched for food for our hungry kids.
Mohammed al-Homs, a 40-year-old father of five, is stumbling in the tent ward.
He also left early on Sunday for his family so he could get some food, but he claimed he had been shot twice in the leg and the mouth, causing my front teeth to break.
There were so many injured and dead people around me when I collapsed. Everyone was running and screaming. Gunfire was emitted by tanks and drones all over. The world seemed to be at its end, in my opinion.
Because medical personnel couldn’t reach the injured, he lay bleeding on the ground for what appeared to be an hour.
Then, word spread that the distribution gates had opened, and people began to travel to the center.
The only time it was possible to move the injured to a nearby medical facility was when.
Muhammad declares, “This was my first attempt at getting aid, and it will be my last.”
I didn’t anticipate surviving. We were met with tanks and drones as we searched for food for our afflicted children.
I never imagined that a box of food would cause me to die.
Khaled al-Lahham, 36, is another person who managed to get an aid package on the first day of distribution, on May 27 and who also volunteered to do it on Sunday.
Al-Lahham is caring for seven siblings who have been displaced in al-Mawasi’s tents, including his parents, an aunt, and seven siblings.
He was able to travel as close as he could to the al-Alam Roundabout roundabout with five friends that morning.
The six friends started kicking out of the car as the distribution period approached.
“Suddenly, there was screams and loud gunfire all around.” Khaled, who was unable to get out of the car, claims that he felt a sharp pain in his leg as a bullet had penetrated my thigh.
As people ran and screamed at me, I was screaming and bleeding. He adds that the shooting was irrational. “There were tanks, quadcopters, and fire from all directions,” the statement read.
Khaled was injured and huddled in the back seat until a friend drove him to the hospital and returned.
Khaled says, “I never imagined I’d be put to death for a box of food.”
Why do they lie to people and kill them in this manner if they don’t want to distribute the aid?
Source: Aljazeera
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