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Rafah aid distribution killings

Killings of Palestinians in Rafah From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Since 27 May 2025, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and wounded by mostly Israeli gunfire as they approached a newly established aid distribution site in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, operated by the Israeli and US-backed[2] Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The incidents began taking place on the first day of the GHF's operations, following an 11-week Israeli blockade since early March 2025 that had severely restricted humanitarian aid to Gaza, exacerbating the Gaza humanitarian crisis.[3][4][5] According to the Gaza Health Ministry, over 500 Palestinians have been killed while trying to reach aid distribution areas.[6][7] The American nonprofit Center for Constitutional Rights considers it possible for the GHF to be legally liable for complicity in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against Palestinians.[8][9] In late June 2025, Haaretz reported that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops had received orders to fire on the unarmed crowds to "keep them away from food distribution centers."[1]

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Background

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The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was registered in both Delaware, United States, and Geneva, Switzerland, in February 2025,[10] and is described by the BBC as aiming to provide an "alternative to the UN as the main supplier of aid" to Gaza.[11] The foundation is backed by both the Trump administration and the Israeli government.[12]

Due to Israeli checkpoints into Gaza which predate the October 7 attacks, the Israeli government and IDF have controlled the entrance of humanitarian aid into Gaza, with aid delivery disrupted multiple times over the years, either via Israeli government blockades or Israeli civilian actions.[13] Since March 2, 2025, very little humanitarian aid has been allowed into Gaza, with concerns about famine in Gaza being raised by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).[14][15] Additional allegations by both Israel and the United States that Hamas was stealing aid, which the group denied, have also hindered humanitarian aid disbursement. The GHF began operations on 26 May 2025 at a new distribution center in Rafah.[16]

The GHF sites are secured by American contractors, particularly Safe Reach Solutions (SRS), with Israeli troops patrolling the perimeter. The sites have chain-link fences directing Palestinians into military base-resembling structures surrounded by large sand berms.[17] Palestinians are expected to go through identity checks and screening for involvement with Hamas prior to accessing food. The UN condemned the GHF plan and insisted that it will not operate with any scheme that fails to uphold humanitarian principles,[4] with a spokesperson imploring Israel to open all entrances into the Gaza Strip and saying that the GHF's operations were a "distraction from what is actually needed".[11]

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Incidents

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27–28 May

On 27 May 2025, the GHF began distributing aid at a distribution center in Tel al-Sultan in Rafah under Israel Defense Forces (IDF) oversight. Thousands of Palestinians gathered to access food packages. The size of the crowd, which included women and children, led to chaos as people clambered over fences and pushed through packed corridors to reach the supplies. According to the GHF, the chaos resulted in the temporary withdrawal of American forces from the compound, allowing some Gazans to "take aid safely and dissipate."[18][19][20]

The Gaza Government Media Office reported that Israeli tanks opened fire on the crowd, resulting in at least three deaths and 48 injuries, calling it a "deliberate massacre" and a "full-fledged war crime." The count was later updated to 10 killed and 62 wounded.[18] The IDF denied firing at Palestinians, saying that it had fired "warning shots" in an outside area[3] to establish control over the situation.[4] A UN spokesperson disputed the Israeli narrative, stating that "most of those injured are due to gunshots" from the IDF.[18]

Videos circulating show people running away from the distribution center in panic as gunfire is heard in the distance. They also show a military helicopter firing flares from the sky.[18]

On 28 May, the Gaza Government Media Office stated that the IDF had killed ten civilians and wounded 62 others over the past 48 hours at the aid distribution site.[18] On 31 May, three Palestinians were killed in Rafah while trying to reach the aid distribution centre according to Palestinian medical sources.[21] The Gaza Health Ministry meanwhile stated that the death toll at the Rafah aid distribution centre had risen to 17 killed, 86 wounded and five missing.[22]

1–15 June

On 1 June 2025, the IDF killed 32 civilians and wounded over 250 at the aid centre in Rafah.[23][24] The Palestine Red Crescent Society stated that its paramedics had rescued at least 23 dead Palestinians and another 23 wounded from the area. According to Nasser Hospital's emergency department, 150 injured people and 28 bodies were brought to the hospital.[25][26] The GHF claimed in response that the reports were "untrue" and "fabricated" by Hamas,[27] publishing undated security camera footage showing a calm atmosphere to support its claims.[28] The IDF also called the reports "false," denying that it had fired "within or near" the aid distribution center, and released a drone video which it claimed showed an unrelated looting at Khan Yunis, where Palestinian militants threw rocks and fired at civilians heading to collect aid.[29][30] Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry, hospital officials, and several witnesses testified that Israel was responsible for the gunfire at Rafah.[31] Médecins Sans Frontières said that its patients at Nasser Hospital "reported being shot at from all sides by Israeli drones, helicopters, boats, tanks and soldiers."[32] A CNN review based on witness testimonies, video evidence, and expert analysis, found that the shots were likely fired by the Israeli army at a location where GHF operated.[33] Pro-Palestinian social media accounts referred to the 1 June incident as the "Witkoff massacre", referring to US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff who had endorsed Israel's plan to take over aid delivery in Gaza.[34]

Footage of the aftermath of a strike was initially claimed to have occurred near the aid centre, but was later determined by BBC Verify as a previously unreported Israel Defense Forces strike, 4.5km from the aid centre, at al-Mawasi on 1 June 2025, which the Israel Defense Forces told the BBC that they had "wrongfully hit the Mawasi area" with artillery that "deviated" after "technical and operational errors".[35]

On 2 June, the Gaza Government Media Office stated that three people were killed and 35 others wounded by the IDF near the aid center, with the IDF claiming that its troops had shot at suspects who were approaching towards them.[36] It also stated that 75 people had been killed and more than 400 others had been wounded since 27 May by the IDF.[27]

On 3 June, at least 27 civilians were killed and 161 more were injured after the Israeli military said that its forces had opened fire on a group of individuals who had left designated access routes near the distribution centre in Rafah.[37][38][39] The International Committee of the Red Cross meanwhile reported 184 injuries.[39] Hamas meanwhile stated that so far at least 102 people had been killed and more than 490 wounded while seeking aid.[40] On the next day, the IDF declared all roads leading to aid centers to be "combat zones," thereby closing the distribution centers for the day.[41]

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation later stated that it would close its aid distribution sites on 4 June, with the IDF declaring routes leading to them as combat zones.[41] The sites reopened on 5 June.[12]

On 6 June, eight Palestinians were killed and 61 others wounded near the aid distribution centre in Rafah.[42] The death toll near the aid distribution sites meanwhile rose to 110 killed and 583 wounded.[43]

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation again shut the aid centres on 7 June, accusing Hamas of threatening it, and stated that it would open on the following day. Hamas denied the allegation.[44] That same day, six more Palestinians were killed and several others were injured by Israeli forces near the aid distribution centre.[45][46]

On 8 June, Palestinian health officials said at least 13 people were killed and 173 others were injured by Israeli forces the aid distribution centre in Rafah.[47] The Israeli military said they fired warning shots at people it said were suspects who had advanced toward its forces and ignored warnings to turn away but did not see any casualties. Eleven bodies were brought to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis while another body and 29 injured people were brought to Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia. Palestinian witnesses there said Israeli forces had fired on them at a roundabout that is around a kilometre (half-mile) from a site run in the nearby city of Rafah.[48] The total civilian toll at the aid centers rose to 125 killed, 736 wounded and nine missing per Hamas.[47]

Survivors of the repeated mass killings perpetrated at the distribution sites have begun to refer to the Israeli-backed operation as traps or death traps rather than aid.[24][49]

On 9 June, 14 civilians were killed and more than 99 wounded near the aid distribution site, with Palestinians accusing the IDF and allied local gunmen from the Popular Forces of firing at them.[50] The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation meanwhile stated that it had closed one of its centres in Tel al-Sultan due to chaotic conditions caused by the crowds.[51]

On 10 June, another 36 civilians were killed and 207 were wounded near an aid distribution site according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The victims were seeking aid before "warning shots to distance suspects" were fired by the IDF towards individuals that they claim "posed a threat to troops." By this time, at least 163 people were killed and 1,495 were wounded while trying to receive aid from the GHF.[52][53][54]

On 11 June, an additional 25 people were killed at night near a GHF food distribution center. Once again, the Israeli government claims to have been firing warning shots at "suspects", while the Palestinian Civil Defence claims that the IDF opened fire. Another 14 were killed by the IDF near a GHF center, according to the Nasser Hospital. At this point, the total deaths near GHF centers has increased to 223, with the total injuries rising to 1,858.[55] There were a total of 60 killed by the IDF on 11 June.[56]

On 12 June, 26 more people were killed by Israeli drone attacks while waiting near the aid distribution centres.[57] The total dead near GHF aid centers has risen to 245 and the wounded to 2,152 by this time.[56][58][55] The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation meanwhile accused Hamas of killing eight of its aid workers, injuring 21 others, and possibly taking some hostage in an attack on a bus carrying over two dozen of its Palestinian staff west of Khan Yunis.[59] The organization also said that members of Hamas had intimidated hospital staff from treating the aid workers.[60] Social media within Gaza said that Hamas targeted the bus because it was transporting GHF employees linked to Yasser Abu Shabab.[61] Referring to the same event, Al-Khazindar Company, a Palestinian group that works with GHF, said that Hamas militants had targeted its workers and killed eight people in its attack. The company director said that Hamas had threatened the killed workers and that his other workers had been beaten and shot.[62] The Hamas-run police force of the Gaza Strip claimed that on June 12 its Sahm unit killed 12 Popular Forces militants backed by Israel, publishing a video purportedly showing their bodies. The Popular Forces meanwhile claimed to have killed five Hamas militants.[60] The Abu Shabab group said on Facebook that it’s members were not targeted by Hamas in the bus attack.[63] GHF said that they do not work with the Abu Shabab group and that its staff includes unarmed Palestinian workers as well as armed international contractors, who are mostly American, and guard the centers.[64] The bus attack occurred after Hamas issued a warning in the prior week that any individual or company in cooperation with GHF would receive "decisive and uncompromising action." Hamas reiterated the warning on June 8, saying it had commanded its forces to strike those in cooperation with the GHF.[65] The Abu Shabab militia also accused Hamas of detaining and killing aid staff.[66]

From 13 to 14 June, an additional 29 aid seekers were killed and over 380 were wounded by the IDF near aid distribution centers. The total number of aid seekers killed and wounded by the IDF has risen to 274 and 2,532 respectively.[67]

At least 17 Palestinians were killed near GHF aid centers on 15 June. The Gaza Health Ministry likens the aid sites to "human slaughterhouses."[68]

16 June–present

On the morning of 16 June, 23 aid seekers were killed and 200 others were wounded near aid sites in Rafah according to medics.[69] By this time, at least 338 people have been killed, at least 2,831 injured and nine missing at sites since May 27.[70]

On 17 June, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israeli troops killed 59 and injured 221 others, with witnesses reporting that Israeli soldiers, tanks, and drones fired onto civilians and at least two Israeli shells landed in the middle of the crowd, describing the attacks as a "massacre". This was the deadliest of the killings that have occurred near aid distribution centers in Khan Yunis, Gaza.[71][72][73] According to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the incident occurred near the United Nations World Food Programme distribution centre.[74] The IDF admitted firing in the area and issued a statement saying that, "The details of the incident are under review."[75] The total deaths at aid sites has subsequently increased to 397 with over 3,000 wounded.[74] Haaretz reported that this was due to Israeli troops deliberately using artillery fire on civilian crowds.[1]

On 18 June, at least 12 more Palestinians were killed and 72 wounded by Israeli fire while waiting for aid trucks according to a spokesperson for al-Aqsa hospital.[76][77] The total number of Palestinian aid seekers killed increased to over 400.[78]

On 19 June, rescuers and medics reported that Israeli forces wounded 60 and killed 12 Palestinians waiting for aid near a GHF's site in central Gaza, despite GHF's denial and IDF's claim that it fired "warning shots" at approaching "suspects" in Netzarim.[77]

On 20 June, witnesses and medics reported that Israeli tanks and drones fired at thousands of Palestinian aid seekers, of whom 23 were killed and over 100 wounded, near a GHF site in central Gaza, despite GHF's denial and IDF's claim it fired "warning shots" at gathering Palestinians and its admission that one IDF aircraft struck some approaching "suspects".[79]

According to the Palestinian Civil Defence, eight people were killed by IDF gunfire on 21 June. By this time, the total number of people killed at aid sites has risen to 450 and the number wounded to 3,466.[80]

On 22 June, media outlets in Gaza reported that six people were killed and dozens others were injured by IDF gunfire while waiting for aid.[81]

On 24 June, Palestinian hospitals and witnesses stated that IDF forces and drones open fired on a crowd of hundreds of people waiting for aid, killing at least 40 people.[82][83] The total number of aid seekers killed during this period has risen to 516 with over 3,799 having been wounded.[84]

On 26 June, three people were killed and several others injured by the Israeli army while waiting for aid at the Netzarim Corridor. By this time, the death toll has risen to 549, at least 4,066 have been injured and 39 remained missing.[85]

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Reporting

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In late June 2025, Haaretz released an article in which reporters spoke to multiple IDF soldiers and officers stationed at the GHF aid distribution sites. Soldiers said that they had received orders to fire on any unarmed aid seekers who arrived before the food distribution centers were open to "keep them away" and after they closed to disperse the crowds.[86][1][87] One soldier told the Israeli newspaper that they were not aware of any shooting from "the other side."[1] Because the opening times of the aid centers are not always consistent,[88] Palestinians would approach at various times and this, according to a soldier interviewed by Haaretz, contributed to confusion and harm.[1] The operation was reportedly called "Operation Salted Fish", named after the Israeli version of the children's game Red light, green light.[86]

On 27 June 2025, Gaza's Government Media Office expressed its "deep concern and condemnation" over its discovery of Oxycodone "narcotic pills" inside flour bags distributed by GHF aid centers in Gaza. It said it held Israel fully responsible for the "heinous crime of spreading addiction and destroying the Palestinian social fabric" and stated "We have so far documented four testimonies from citizens who found these pills inside flour bags. More serious is the possibility that some of these narcotic substances were deliberately ground or dissolved in the flour itself, which raises the scope of the crime and transforms it into a serious attack directly targeting public health."[89]

Reactions

State actors

  • Israel: IDF spokesman Effie Defrin accused Hamas of "spreading rumors" and "trying bluntly and violently to stop the people of Gaza" from reaching aid.[32]
  • United States: US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee accused news outlets of "reckless and irresponsible reporting", saying that "the only source for these misleading, exaggerated, and utterly fabricated stories came from Hamas."[32]
  • France: France condemned Israeli gunfire targeting civilians gathered around an aid distribution site in Gaza on 24 June, saying it left dozens killed and wounded.[90]
  •  Switzerland: Swiss authorities issued a warning to the Geneva affiliate of the GHF, calling on it to rectify its "deficiencies in the organization that is mandatory by law" or face court or regulatory action in 30 days.[91]
  • Palestine: The Fatah-run Palestinian Authority accused Hamas of systematically killing Gazans "under the pretext that they are collaborating with the American aid centers."[92]

Non-state actors

  • Hamas: Hamas condemned the massacres occurring under a "false humanitarian cover" as "a full-fledged war crime" and accused the "American–Israeli aid centers" of having turned into "death traps".[93]
  • Popular Forces: Leader of the Israeli-backed Popular Forces, Yasser Abu Shabab, denied the massacres, claiming "Rumors of executions and killings are being spread by the corrupt, mercenaries, and criminals of Hamas in an attempt to sow fear in the hearts of those who seek change and liberation from terrorism, oppression, and its unjust rule."[94]
  • Gaza Humanitarian Foundation: The GHF has on several occasions denied shootings occurring near its aid sites, claiming "To date, not a single incident has occurred at or in the surrounding vicinity of GHF sites, nor has any incident occurred during our operating hours."[95][79] Interim director John Acree has accused Hamas of attacking GHF workers, stating "We decided that the best response to Hamas’ cowardly murderers was to keep delivering food for the people of Gaza who are counting on us."[94]

Supranational organizations

  • United Nations: United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he was "appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid" and called for an independent investigation into the killings of Palestinians.[32]
    • UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini condemned the killings as "undignified" and "unsafe", as well as "a distraction from atrocities". He also called the mechanism "an abomination" and "a death trap".[96] UN aid coordination office spokesperson Jens Laerke also criticized the GHF plan as "a distraction from what is actually needed, which is a reopening of all the crossings into Gaza, a secure environment within Gaza and faster facilitation of permissions and final approvals of all the emergency supplies that we have just outside the border."[97]
    • The UNICEF criticized the US-backed, Israel-backed, GHF-run aid distribution system for worsening "a desperate situation".[79]
    • OHCHR spokesman Thameen al-Kheetan condemned what he called "Israel's militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism" as a contradiction of "international standards of aid distribution," and added that the weaponization of food for civilians "constitutes a war crime."[98]
  • European Union: On the day after the 27 May incident, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas criticized the aid mechanism run by the GHF, saying it does not support "any kind of privatization of the distribution of humanitarian aid".[99]

Non-governmental organizations

  • Doctors Without Borders reported that they received people wounded in the attacks and called it a "massacre" and stated that "along with displacement orders and bombing campaigns that kill civilians, weaponizing aid in this manner may constitute crimes against humanity".[100]
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References

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