Hani Hammad, 18, was never anticipated that his daily search for flour would lead to him suffocating and being trampled.
He and his seven siblings have been displaced from Rafah and are now living in a tent in the al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, where he has been heading to a food distribution point run by the much-criticized, United States-backed GHF.
“We left at dawn and sat among the gathered crowds.” People rushed forward after US staff and Israeli army signaled to open the gate about 5am, Hani told Al Jazeera.
After arriving at Nasser Hospital gasping and barely conscious, he said, “The gate was open, but people were packed into a very narrow corridor leading to it.
“I had a difficult time joining the crowd.” People began to flee through the corridor as a result of American guards spraying pepper spray and firing gas bombs, he continued.
I fell asleep. My face was trampled by them.
I was in agony, like I was going to die. I was unable to move forward or backward. I fell asleep. My face and side were trampled. I couldn’t be pulled out by anyone. But “God gave me another chance,” Hani remarked.
He was taken unconscious to Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital on a tuk-tuk and then placed next to the bodies of several people who had died, some from suffocation and others from bullet wounds.
“I couldn’t see or hear because I was unconscious.” I snuck in and out. I was positioned next to the deceased. I assumed I was one of them.
21 Palestinians died early on Wednesday while attempting to collect food aid, of which 15 were suffocated.
In western Khan Younis, an incident occurred close to a gate managed by the GHF. More than a dozen people were reportedly injured, some of whom are still in intensive care.
Hani is the oldest of eight siblings who reside close to their uncle’s tent. Their parents are still in Jordan after visiting them for medical care a month before the war broke out.
“I feel a lot of burden,” I thought. Without our parents’ assistance or their support, he claimed, “we’ve endured the pressures of displacement and war.”
He adds, “Our intense hunger pushes me every day,” despite acknowledging that waiting for aid from the GHF poses a significant daily risk.
There is “no other choice,” the statement read. I am unable to purchase the excessively priced goods on the market. The young man says, “My only option is to try my luck with aid distributions.”
“Every time is a near-death experience,” says one author. Gunfire, tanks, drones, and attacks are all present. What kind of aid distribution is this? We are truly and truly exhausted.
“We’re shot like animals,” the saying goes.
After visiting the same aid facility in Khan Younis early on Wednesday, Mohammed Abedin, 24, now sleeps in a hospital bed with a leg wound.
He claims that after sensing the danger of the crowd surge, he made the decision to turn back for the first time.
The young man, a first-year student majoring in accounting, arrived at the distribution center at around 3 a.m. (GMT), but he noticed that things had changed. Prior to reopening, the same location had been closed for two days.
“We used to enter through a number of access points, and the entryway was large.” We were instead sucked into a long, narrow corridor, he claims, filled with metal.
“Everyone rushed forward as the gates opened, and people started to fall.”
As American guards and quadcopters above fired pepper spray and gas bombs, Mohammed described a harrowing scene of people screaming and gasping for help as they were crushed against the metal barriers.
“I was watching my cousin as I stood near her. Because of the overwhelming numbers, we made a decision to avoid entering. I witnessed young people screaming, choking, and trapped youth. No one was able to go back or forward.
He claims that the fenced corridor, where gas bombs were poured down and people were shoved through, turned into a death trap.
Mohammed and his cousin attempted to leave, but a quadcoptor shot him in the leg just as he believed he had made the right decision. His cousin also suffered injuries.
“Quantum captors, tanks, or soldiers are constantly firing at random throughout the area.” He claimed that I had the unfortunate experience this time. “But I survived, thank God.”
Mohammed examines the tragic circumstance in which Palestinians who are forced to risk their lives to obtain food are caught between starvation and death. He pays for the nine members of his displaced family, who are currently residing in al-Mawasi.
“We have bread in our dreams every day. I almost always go to the doctor and usually leave empty-handed. However, the days I brought home just a few kilograms of flour resembled “an eid” [a celebration] for my family.
Given that Israel has blocked humanitarian and commercial goods and Gaza has been under siege for four months, the borders have been sealed, and fleeing is Mohammed’s top priority, especially with flour.
“Bread is what puts me at risk of dying.” He waited for surgery at Nasser Hospital to remove a bullet from his leg, saying, “There is no other choice.” Has there been no reliable means of providing aid delivery?
There are no organized relief, police, or UN interventions, the statement goes. We are viciously attacked like animals. If hunger and stampedes are not the only causes of death, we will also perish.
Following an Israeli-imposed nearly-total blockade, which is still in place and has impeded the entry of humanitarian supplies, the GHF began its aid distribution efforts in Gaza in late May 2025.
At least 798 Palestinians have died since then in an effort to reach or receive aid from the organization’s distribution points, according to UN statistics.
UN organizations and human rights organizations have voiced widespread opposition to the operation’s political and human rights violations. The UN’s assertions that the GHF’s operations are inherently unsafe and violate humanitarian neutrality are highlighted by the hundreds of fatalities reported at their sites.
Either we bring flour back, or we don’t even bring it back.
Another frequent visitor to the aid lines is Ziad Masad Mansour, 43, who moved from central Gaza to al-Mawasi in Khan Younis with his wife and six children after their home was destroyed during the war.
“I go there at ten in the morning and spend the rest of my days there.” Mansour, who was struck in the head on Wednesday, remarked, “We endure the dust and humiliation.”
“Sometimes I get some cans of flour.” I do it occasionally with nothing. In exchange for some food, I even assist others in carrying their bags.
“Yesterday, the narrow corridor was filled with gas bombs and bullets, and we were crowded into a horrifying crowd. When I was shot in the head and lost consciousness while attempting to escape the crush, I was unconscious.
Source: Aljazeera
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