The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns in the strongest terms the heinous crime committed by the U.S private security forces contracted by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).  The morning’s incident resulted in the killing of 18 Palestinians, including 5 children due to suffocation, and injury of dozens more. Moreover, 2 other Palestinians were killed, including a woman by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) fire near the aid distribution point in Rafah.

According to eyewitness testimonies and information collected by PCHR’s staff, dozens of Palestinians were killed and injured in a crush and stampede exacerbated by the use of stun grenades and pepper spray by the U. S. private security forces operating in the Israeli-American aid distribution center in al-Hashash neighborhood, northwest of Rafah. At around 06:10 on Wednesday, 16 July 2025, hundreds gathered in front of a narrow corridor- around 150 meters in length and 4 meters in width- leading to the aid distribution point along the southern Mouraj axis in al-Hashash neighborhood, northwest of Rafah, waiting for the center to open. As a result, 19 Palestinians were killed, including five children due to suffocation, and PCHR preserves their names. Also, tens more suffered suffocation while two others were shot by IOF, including a woman, near the same center identified as Mariam Hamed Mohammed Abu Khatlah (57) and Ahmed Mahmoud ‘Eid Muhareb (21).

In his testimony to PCHR’s staff, Mohammed Hamadah Fawzi Zo’aroub (20), from Khan Younis, shares the details of this crime:

” At around 04:00, I left the area where I am currently displaced on Street 5 in Mawasi Khan Younis with my relatives, walking to the U.S aid distribution center near al-Teena Street, south of Khan Younis. At around 06:10, IOF’s gunfire stopped before the center’s opening, so I ran with hundreds of others towards the center through a corridor, which is around 150 meters long and 4 meters wide. The corridor became dangerously crowded, and people began falling and piling on top of one another. I saw the American officers throwing 3 stun grenades at the crowd and fired pepper spray on us. I was among those who fell with my relative Ramdan ‘Omar Zo’arub (19) and could not breathe. The gate then opened, and people began stepping over us in a frantic attempt to enter. Around 15 minutes later, people started pulling those on the ground outside, including myself and Ramadan. They took us to Naser Hospital on a donkey-drawn cart with 3 others while many were transported in tuk-tuks. At the hospital’s reception department, my condition improved, A nurse administered IV fluids and injections to Ramadan, which helped him recover after some time.”

Islam Nahedh Mustafa Shahwan (26), from Khan Younis, said to PCHR’s staff:

“At around 03:00, I set out with my brother Montaser (36) and 6 other relatives from where we are currently displaced on al-Rasheed Street near Karazah coffee shop in Mawasi Khan Younis. We walked to the American aid distribution center from al-Teenah street and the lemon farmland, south of Khan Younis. We arrived at around 04:00, and the soldiers were opening fire around us while we with thousands of others, trying to protect ourselves by taking cover behind trees and amidst the rubble scattered on the ground. At around 05:30, a woman, around 50 years old, was shot in the forehead right beside me. The bullet penetrated through the back of her head, creating a hole and killing her instantly.  Some people then carried her body and evacuated her from the scene. at around 06:00, the shooting stopped, and I saw some people raising a green flag signaling that the distribution center was opened, so hundreds flooded to the center via a corridor- 3.5 meters wide and 150 meters long with a gate at its end in front of the center.  Within only a few minutes, the corridor became overcrowded, and it became all chaotic with the stampede. An American officer began striking the fence with an electric baton while other officers threw 4 stun grenades at the crowd and pepper sprayed them. Dozens of people fell to the ground, with others trampling over them in the stampede. Among those who fell was my brother Montaser. Thankfully, someone managed to pull him up and drag him out from beneath the crush. We walked him outside the corridor, where I saw a tuk-tuk carrying the bodies of seven people who had suffocated after being trampled.  We could not find any means of transportation to go back to our tent, so we walked until we reached it. Montaser was in severe pain. After hours, we called an ambulance, and it arrived and took him to Naser Hospital in Khan Younus. It later turned out that he sustained bruises in the chest and had breathing difficulties.

Such incidents on the ground further reinforce PCHR’s position that the aid distribution mechanism is created to kill and humiliate starving Gazans and it must be halted immediately. PCHR reaffirms the direct involvement of this mechanism in inciting chaos and overcrowding through using live ammunition and grenades at the starving crowds. PCHR further asserts that GHF serves as an extension to the Israeli occupation’s broader policy aimed at engineering starvation and facilitating the killing of Palestinians.

Since the opening of these centers on 27 May, IOF have killed 851 Palestinians and injured more than 5,634 others in their vicinity without offering a solution to the deepening starvation crisis which continues to devastate the Gaza Strip.  These killings are part of the broader crime of genocide and occur in circumstances that pose no threat to the lives of the soldiers or personnel operating at the distribution centers.

PCHR reiterates that these incidents prove that this aid distribution mechanism blatantly violates all humanitarian relief standards enshrined in international humanitarian law.  It is, in itself, a degrading and humiliating conduct that strips Palestinian civilians of their dignity after enduring 21 months of systematic and deliberate starvation imposed by Israel in one of the most heinous collective crimes in modern history.

This Israeli mechanism fails to offer any effective solutions to end the devastating starvation; rather, it fosters an environment of chaos.  It is also a deliberate step to sideline neutral humanitarian actors and international organizations, particularly the United Nations and its agencies, including UNRWA, aimed at undermining their mandate and crucial role in Gaza.

Given the above, PCHR calls on the international community to exert pressure on Israel to abolish this mechanism, which compels civilians to move into dangerous zones under full Israeli military control. PCHR further urges the resumption of aid entry and demands allowing the international organizations to distribute aid across areas of displacement while allowing the free and uninterrupted entry of goods.

PCHR urges 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.