by Yonah Jeremy Bob
The IDF did not open fire in any aid centers, a source with knowledge told the 'Post'.
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The IDF on Tuesday celebrated the announcement of the opening of two large food distribution centers by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which in turn said it had handed out around 462,000 meals worth of food, but the first day was plagued by ongoing controversy.
At one point in the afternoon, the Palestinian crowds who had come to receive food overran the facility's outer defenses to try to seize as much food as they could for themselves.
This led the IDF and the US security contractors running the facility to fire warning shots in the air to get the crowd to back off.
There were no reports of killing Palestinian civilians, but there were many videos on social media showing chaotic scenes of Palestinian civilians fleeing the sound of gunfire coming from a food facility where they had hoped to receive nourishment.
Some on social media said that the shooting was targeting the Palestinian civilians, while an IDF message said the shots were fired in the air, and the same message said that no helicopter had opened fire, but that rather there was merely a helicopter patrolling the nearby coast.
Still, the incident marred the opening of the food centers which have sparked controversies on a regular basis over recent weeks.
In the past hour, two initial distribution centers of humanitarian aid were opened in the Rafah area of Gaza. pic.twitter.com/lGOcx0oIyV
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) May 27, 2025
The two centers are located one at Tel Sultan in Rafah in deep southern Gaza, and one at the Morag Corridor, a bit north of Rafah.
A third is expected to open up near Khan Yunis in mid-southern Gaza, and a fourth in central Gaza, though it is still unclear if these other facilities are days or weeks away from opening.
New guidelines to prevent Hamas from gaining control of the aid
Sources told the Post that new guidelines and techniques would be followed to prevent Hamas from gaining control of the food in northern Gaza, but the whole reason that Israel has worked with US companies and global aid groups to establish the new four food centers in central and southern Gaza is to break Hamas's control over food, which the UN groups have done little to stop.
The new food centers are run by the American companies UG Solutions and Safe Reach Solutions as part of a new Gaza humanitarian authority.
However, there has been controversy regarding the authority with a number of its top managers resigning in recent days due to pressure from global groups who view the food centers as problematic moves by Israel to control Gazan food and to restrict this food from portions of the population connected with Hamas.
Part of the policy with northern Gaza may also be to satisfy objections from the UN and food aid groups that say it is illegal for Israel to decide some groups can receive food, while others (Hamas forces) cannot.
While the UN and human rights groups condemn Hamas, they also refuse to set any limits on who can receive food.
Mix of Israeli and US security checks
In contrast, the new food centers will involve some mix of Israeli and US security checks, which could allow the IDF to arrest suspected Hamas members, and certainly to arrest anyone who is armed.
Additionally, locating the new food centers away from northern Gaza is designed to try to divide Gaza into sectors which become Hamas free, even if other sectors still contain Hamas terrorists.
All of this is being rolled out as five IDF divisions invaded more deeply into Gaza last week.
The IDF said that the current phase of the invasion of taking over up to 75% of Gazan territory and rolling out and normalizing the new food distribution model could be drawn out over around two months, with hopes that this would lead to breaking Hamas’s control over the population.
Yonah Jeremy Bob
Source: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-855559
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