The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) shot dead a Palestinian civilian and wounded 50 others on Tuesday evening after opening fire on thousands of starving Palestinian civilians gathered near an aid distribution point in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. This incident occurred amidst the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, now in its twentieth consecutive month. Another shooting incident recurred this morning when IOF opened fire at civilians desperately trying to reach other aid distribution points in Mouraj area in southern Khan Younis, inflicting more casualties.

The mechanisms used in this aid distribution along with developments on the ground clearly expose the failure of the Israeli aid distribution mechanism. It also proves that what is going on is a deceptive and deliberate attempt by the Israeli occupation to whitewash its image to appear more humane in front of the international community and global public opinion.

In this context, lawyer Raji Sourani, Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), said,

“IOF’s management of humanitarian aid distribution is very humiliating and degrading.  It is an act conducted in full awareness and intent by the Israeli occupation to undermine the human dignity of the Palestinian people, especially those who have suffered throughout 20 months of an Israeli deliberate and systematic starvation policy- one of the most heinous crimes in our time. This is not only bread offered to the starving; It is bread drenched in the blood of victims who died of hunger and bombardment under siege.

Those committing genocide, including starving civilians, amongst them women, children, the sick and the wounded, will never care about feeding them or offering them food aid, especially when their goal of the genocidal war is to exterminate the Palestinian people and eradicate their presence.  How would a hand that kills and starves suddenly turn into a helping hand that feeds its victims? No logic, morals or laws can justify this. What Israel is doing today is trying to dominate the population’s sustenance and deliberately starve them while relentlessly bombing them. 

Israel, as an occupying power, does not have any legitimacy to manage or facilitate humanitarian aid; however, the only party that has the right and ability to manage the relief process is the United Nations, foremostly the UNRWA, who has the experience, mandate, and legitimacy to carry out this mission in a way that preserves human dignity and full neutrality.”

According to information obtained by PCHR’s field researchers, at around 09:00 on Tuesday, 27 May 2025, tens of displaced Palestinians started flooding via al-Rashid coastal street to the aid distribution point that IOF had established near the under-construction Hamad Bin Khalifah Hospital on Abu Baker al-Seddeeq Street in Tal al-Sultan neighborhood in southwestern Rafah.  The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has overseen the aid at the distribution point under the direct protection of a private US security company called (SRS) and amid IOF’s deployment in the vicinity of the area.  In order to get aid, the displaced civilians had to walk several kilometers to reach a dangerous security area dubbed by IOF as a humanitarian corridor, where the displaced were ordered not to move forward to the aid distribution point lined by barbed wires.  Narrow tracks- corridors fenced in by barbed wire- had been established, where civilians were ordered to gather in a clearly humiliating and controlling scene.  At the end of these tracks, the GHF staff is stationed at the distribution point to hand out the parcels, which include a limited amount of aid with no clear standards, verification, or criteria.

According to eyewitnesses, after many displaced civilians received food parcels, news started spreading about aid availability, encouraging thousands of displaced civilians already exhausted by hunger and need to rush to the distribution point.  In front of the large crowds, the entry gates and the surrounding wires collapsed, and the security company officers withdrew while the rushing crowds managed to obtain the remaining food boxes.

As civilians continued to arrive amid loss of control over the site, IOF stationed near the distribution point indiscriminately and directly opened fire on the displaced people. As a result, around 50 civilians sustained varying degrees of injuries and were transferred to the International Red Cross field hospital for treatment.

In the morning of Wednesday, 28 May 2025, medical sources announced the death of one of those injured, and he was identified as Salem ‘Ata Salem Abu Mousa (30), a resident of Khan Younis. According to eyewitnesses, many displaced and wounded civilians have been reported missing in the vicinity of al-‘Alam Square on al-Rasheed Coastal Street while trying to flee the scene.

Journalist Mohammed Nabil Hussein Abu ‘Armanah (37), from Rafah City, said to PCHR’s field researcher:

“On Tuesday morning, I saw some displaced civilians from al-Mawasi neighborhood heading via al-Rasheed Coastal Street, western Rafah, towards the aid distribution point, which had been established by IOF near the under-construction Hamad Hospital in Tal al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah.  At around 12:00, I saw a handful of people carrying food parcels, so I went to the distribution point to cover. Just when I arrived, the number of displaced civilians dramatically increased- too many to count.  As a result, the rushing crowds destroyed 5 entry gates and tore down the barbed wire fencing the point.  They managed to obtain the remaining food boxes while the US security company officers withdrew. At around 16:30, I heard gunshots fired by the Israeli soldiers and their vehicles stationed in and near a military point at al-‘Alam Square.  The shooting continued until 17:30. Before I left the site, I saw ambulances belonging to the Abu Yousif al-Najjar Hospital in Mawasi Rafah neighborhood evacuating the individuals injured by the soldiers’ fire.”

Another journalist, who requested anonymity, said the following to PCHR’s field researcher:

“I heard reports that displaced people were heading towards an aid distribution point established by IOF in Tal al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah, so I went to Mawasi Rafah until I reached al-‘Alam Square at around 16:00. There were large crowds, and I even heard from some young men that many had come from the central Gaza Strip and Gaza City. Due to the overwhelming number of people, I could not reach the aid distribution point and stayed near Al-‘Alam Square, where I continued my work as a journalist covering what was happening. At around 16:30, the Israeli soldiers started opening fire from their vehicles at the displaced civilians. I saw and captured many scenes, including that of two young men being injured next to me. I continued covering until 17:30 and then left for Mawasi Khan Younis.”

In a relevant development, IOF opened fire on dozens of civilians who tried on Wednesday morning to reach an aid distribution point in Mouraj area, southern Khan Younis, inflicting further casualties. PCHR continues to verify the toll of victims and the circumstances of the attack.

PCHR believes that what happened once again proves that the new aid distribution mechanism violates all standards of humanitarian relief operations codified in international humanitarian law. This mechanism is also a deliberate move to exclude the international organizations and neutral humanitarian agencies, foremostly the UN and its agencies, particularly UNRWA, and prevent them from carrying out their role in Gaza.

PCHR views this incident as part of a broader ongoing policy by IOF to disregard the Palestinian civilian lives through imposing a strangulating siege and deliberate starvation that amounts to an act of genocide and a crime against humanity.

PCHR stresses that the Israeli mechanism does not effectively address starvation that is ravaging the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip; rather, it gives Israel a false legitimacy to entrench the criminal policy of starvation as a weapon of war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It also allows the continuous exploitation of relief and aid to blackmail the population and maintain control over their daily lives and essentials of their survival.

PCHR warns of the devastating consequences that may arise from the ongoing blockade of aid entry, continued disruption of its distribution via relevant UN agencies or use of politicized and militarized distribution mechanisms aimed at humiliating civilians particularly amid the spread of severe hunger among civilians that is putting their lives at risk.

PCHR condemns opening fire on civilians, urging the international community, including the UN Member States, to fulfil their legal and humanitarian responsibilities and take immediate action to pressure Israel to stop the ongoing crime of genocide, reopen Gaza’s border crossings and resume the unrestricted, immediate and widescale entry of humanitarian aid under the supervision of the UN and its specialized agencies, free from any military or political interference.

PCHR reiterates that impactful pressure mechanisms must be imposed to compel Israel to end the illegal siege of the Gaza Strip, strengthen the role of international organizations, foremostly protecting UNRWA from any restrictions on its work and renewing support for it as the only organization capable of offering a fair humanitarian response to the needs of the population in Gaza in line with its UN mandate and international community’s obligations towards the Palestinian people. 

PCHR calls upon the States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to fulfill their obligations by activating and enforcing the arrest warrants issued against senior Israeli leaders. It also urges the States Parties to take all necessary measures to ensure their prosecution and accountability for all alleged crimes, including the crime of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed by Israel in Gaza for over a year and a half. This is essential to ending the culture of impunity, which now not only jeopardizing the rights of the Palestinian people but also a dangerous precedent that undermines the entire international legal order.