Gaza (Quds News Network)- At least 31 starving Gazan civilians were killed and dozens more injured after Israeli forces opened fire on them while seeking food at aid distribution points run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial US-Israeli organization assigned to deliver aid following more than 80 days of total Israeli blockade.
The Government Media Office in Gaza has issued a statement confirming Israel’s killing of at least 22 people and wounding of more than 115 others at the US-backed aid site in southern Gaza’s Rafah, and said the toll is likely to rise.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 179 people were brought to the hospital, among them 21 martyrs, 5 cases of clinical death, and 30 in critical condition following the deadly incident in Rafah.
At least one man was also killed and 30 others injured at another GHF site in central Gaza near the so-called Netzarim Corridor, the Office said, adding many are still trapped under heavy Israeli fire.
It said the killings “reflect the nature of these areas as mass death traps, not humanitarian relief points”.
It added: “We confirm to the entire world that what is happening is a systematic and malicious use of aid as a tool of war, employed to blackmail starving civilians and forcibly gather them in exposed killing points, managed and monitored by the occupation army and funded and politically covered by the occupation and the US administration, which bears full moral and legal responsibility for these crimes.”
A witness said Israeli forces started shooting at them “indiscriminately.”
“People were just trying to get food for their children. The quadcopter was also shooting at us, along with artillery shelling. Many starving people were injured.”
“These are desperate, starving civilians seeking aid, they’re not even fighters,” he added.
This is not the first deadly massacre that has taken place since the GHF began its operations.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces shot at crowds of Palestinians who gathered at the aid distribution centre in Rafah, the first day the GHF operated.
Several reports and journalists in Gaza said hungry residents forced to stand outside a facility holding aid rushed inside because of delays conducting detailed security checks on recipients. Israeli gunfire killed at least 10 and injured dozens others.
Photos and videos circulated on social media showed hundreds of people lined up at one of GHF’s distribution sites near the so-called “Morag Corridor” in Rafah. Recipients are required to enter through an electronic gate.
The Office said the latest killings have taken the toll at such sites to at least 39 in less than a week. More than 220 people have also been wounded.
The UN and other aid agencies have repeatedly warned that the GHF plan is not neutral, violates humanitarian principles, and may expose civilians to harm. They have also said the model would increase forced displacement in Gaza. The UN has refused to participate in the plan.
‘Mass Death Traps’: Witnesses Say Israeli Forces Indiscriminaty Shot at Starving Civilians
Beginning before even midnight and continuing into Sunday morning, thousands of starving Palestinians made their way to aid distribution points run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Amid the buzz of Israeli military helicopters and drones overhead and gunfire rattling in the background, crowds, including women and children, in southern Gaza’s Rafah and central Gaza struggled to reach the food distribution points.
The occupation forces, positioned in or around those areas, opened live fire indiscriminately on the starving civilians who were seeking food.
The Government Media Office in Gaza issued a statement confirming Israel’s killing of at least 22 people and wounding of more than 115 others at the US-backed aid site in Rafah, and said the toll is likely to rise.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 179 people were brought to the hospital, among them 21 martyrs, 5 cases of clinical death, and 30 in critical condition.
At least one man was also killed and 30 others injured at another GHF site in central Gaza near the so-called Netzarim Corridor.
The Office said the killings “reflect the nature of these areas as mass death traps, not humanitarian relief points”.
It added: “We confirm to the entire world that what is happening is a systematic and malicious use of aid as a tool of war, employed to blackmail starving civilians and forcibly gather them in exposed killing points, managed and monitored by the occupation army and funded and politically covered by the occupation and the US administration, which bears full moral and legal responsibility for these crimes.”
‘They Are Desperate, Starving Civilians’
A witness said Israeli forces started shooting at them “indiscriminately.”
“They opened fire on aid seekers indiscriminately and without warning,” he said.
“People were just trying to get food for their children. The quadcopter was also shooting at us, along with artillery shelling. Many starving people were injured.”
“These are desperate, starving civilians looking for aid,” he said. “They weren’t fighting or carrying rockets, they’re not even fighters.”
Another woman witness said the workers at the GHF directed them to enter a single route to receive an aid box, adding, “Millions of starving people are coming from across the strip to get the aid.”
“As soon as we entered the route, Israeli forces began opening fire from all directions—right, left, front, and back. They suddenly started shooting at people, including women and children,” she said.
According to her, Israeli soldiers shouted at the Gazan aid seekers: “Hungry Gazans, go away. Go away.”
She added that Americans at the site in Rafah told them to take a safe route and wait there until another the aid arrived.
“But as soon as we entered, it turned out to be a trap by the Americans and Israelis. An Israeli tank approached us, soldiers surrounded us, and the tank began firing shells so intensely that the area was burned and destroyed.”
“When ambulances arrived to rush the injured to safety, the soldiers opened fire on them too, preventing them from helping anyone or even getting close.”
“This is inhumane and an insult to Palestinians,” she said. “Where is the aid, Trump? They’re massacring people.”
A brother of one of the Gazans killed in the deadly attack said, “The Trump administration claimed it was a humanitarian zone for aid—but they are liars. They are killing us there.”
“We are forced to walk long distances to reach the distribution point in Rafah just to get a loaf of bread for our starving children. We are ordinary civilians, not fighters.”
Aid Massacres
This is not the first deadly massacre that has taken place since the GHF began its operations.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces shot at crowds of Palestinians who gathered at the aid distribution centre in Rafah, the first day the GHF operated.
Several reports and journalists in Gaza said hungry residents forced to stand outside a facility holding aid rushed inside because of delays conducting detailed security checks on recipients. Israeli gunfire killed at least 10 and injured dozens others.
Photos and videos circulated on social media showed hundreds of people lined up at one of GHF’s distribution sites near the so-called “Morag Corridor” in Rafah. Recipients are required to enter through an electronic gate.
The Office said the latest killings have taken the toll at such sites to at least 39 in less than a week. More than 220 people have also been wounded.
Surge in Missing Persons Among Gaza Aid Seekers at US-Backed GHF Distribution Sites: PCMFD
The Palestinian Center for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared (PCMFD) has reported a sharp increase in the number of Palestinian civilians going missing while seeking food at aid distribution points operated by the controversial, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in central and southern Gaza under Israeli military control.
The center confirmed that Israeli forces opened fire in the areas of Moraj and Tal al-Sultan in southern Gaza’s Rafah and Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, killing 11 civilians and injuring around 100 others, amid reports of lost contact with many civilians following the incidents on Tuesday.
Several alarming disappearance cases were reported, including Diya Faisal Siyam and his son Mohammed from Khan Younis, Riyad al-Najjar from Rafah, and Abdullah Ahmad Maghari, a man with a brain disorder. All went missing after heading to aid points, with no trace so far.
The center stated that placing aid distribution points in “dangerous military zones is a direct enticement of civilians into lethal areas and constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, which obliges the occupying forces to ensure civilian safety.”
The center urged international bodies, especially the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to urgently intervene to reveal the fate of the missing and ensure real protection for civilians in Gaza seeking food and medicine.
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