The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the mass killings committed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) near two aid distribution points in southern and central Gaza Strip, which resulted in the killing and injury of dozens of starving Palestinians who had gathered in search of aid, only to find themselves exposed to direct and lethal gunfire.
This heinous crime is part of a series of ongoing attacks targeting Palestinians as they attempt to access humanitarian aid. It cannot be comprehended as an isolated or miscalculated incident; rather, it is part of an organized and systematic Israeli policy. Under this policy, the IOF seeks first to starve the civilian population and then humiliate and kill them as they struggle for survival.
According to our researchers’ field documentation, at approximately 04:15 on Sunday, 01 June 2025, Israeli military vehicles and quadcopter drones heavily opened fire at thousands of displaced people near in the vicinity of al-‘Alam Square in al-Mawasi area, west of Rafah, while they were desperately trying to reach the aid distribution point established by the IOF and opened last Tuesday near the under-construction Hamad Ibn Khalifa Hospital in Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, southwest of Rafah. The Israeli gunfire killed 21 people, including a woman, while about 150 others sustained various injuries, among them critical cases.
Contrary to the IOF’s attempt to evade responsibility for the crime after their spokesperson claimed that “there is no information about casualties resulting from the IOF’s gunfire, and that the incident is still under investigation” 1, eyewitnesses confirmed that the Israeli military vehicles and quadcopter drones indiscriminately, directly, and unjustifiably opened fire at thousands of displaced people.
In his testimony to PCHR’s staff, journalist Mohammed Ghazi Kamel al-Gharib (43), a reporter for al-Kofiya TV, stated:
“At approximately 00:00, thousands of displaced people started flocking into al-Mawasi area in Rafah via al-Rashid coastal street and gathered between Firsh Fresh Restaurant and Mu’awiyah Mosque. Meanwhile, Israeli quadcopter drones hovering above informed them that the aid distribution point was closed and would be opened a few hours later. At around 03:00, thousands of displaced people walked along al-Rashid coastal street heading to al-‘Alam Square in al-Mawasi area in Rafah to reach Abu Baker al-Seqqik Street, which leads to Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, where the IOF’s aid distribution point was established. At 04:15, when a large number of displaced people arrived at al-‘Alam Square, quadcopter drones opened fire on them, followed by Israeli military vehicles. As a result, many displaced people were killed, and others were seriously injured. At around 04:40, I saw about twenty people killed and dozens of others injured brought to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Field Hospital in al-Mawasi area in Rafah using animal-drawn carts. Most of them were bleeding severely from their heads.”
In a similar crime, the IOF killed a Palestinian and injured 18 others, including 3 children, after targeting people who were trying to reach the aid distribution point established near the Netzarim corridor in northern central Gaza Strip.
According to our researchers’ information, at around 06:00 on Sunday, thousands of starving people gathered near the aid distribution point designated by the IOF near the Netzarim corridor. There were a lot of civilians including women, and children. About an hour later, Israeli quadcopter drones heavily opened fire at the crowd, in addition to firing smoke bombs and artillery shells. The gunfire killed one Palestinian and injured 18 others, including three children. The wounded were carried on the shoulders of others for nearly two kilometers because the IOF did not allow vehicles to cross the Gaza Valley Bridge near the distribution point.
From 03:00 to 06:00 on Saturday, the IOF opened fire at a large number of displaced people in the vicinity of al-‘Alam Square in al-Mawasi area, west of Rafah, while they were heading to the aid distribution point established by the IOF in Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, southwest of Rafah. As a result, 6 displaced people, including a child, were killed, while 40 others sustained various injuries.
According to Gaza Government Media Office, 49 Palestinians have been killed and 305 others injured by Israeli gunfire near aid distribution points in Rafah and Gaza Valley Bridge areas since these points began operating on 27 May 2025. 2
According to information obtained by PCHR’s staff, thousands of Palestinians gather daily near the aid distribution points established by the IOF, operated by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), and secured by a private U.S. security company. Despite the large number of people gathering at these points, the available aid parcels are often limited and sufficient for only dozens or a few hundred individuals. Aid is distributed without relying on pre-registered beneficiary lists or following any organized mechanism, rendering the process chaotic and disordered. This exacerbates the suffering of the desperate crowds, which may number in the thousands, who soon find themselves exposed to Israeli gunfire in the area.
These developments on the ground give further evidence that this aid distribution mechanism is utterly ineffective. Despite the chaos it has inflicted and the consistent pattern of daily casualties and injuries, IOF insists on maintaining this deadly system. It has also failed to provide aid to Gaza’s starving population and its distribution points have turned instead into sites of death, humiliation, and dehumanization of Palestinian civilians, who have endured months of unprecedented levels of deliberate starvation.
PCHR emphasizes that the current aid distribution system has even failed to meet the bare minimum humanitarian standards. It relies on an ineffective and chaotic mechanism; according to which, insufficient food supplies enter into dangerous areas under the Israeli fire control and then thousands of starving civilians are called to come under extremely dangerous conditions only having 3 choices: to be killed by snipers or in airstrikes, to return empty-handed with no food or to take part into a humiliating fight with tens of other starving civilians to obtain a food parcel that does not even suffice for one day.
PCHR stresses that maintaining this deadly and degrading aid distribution mechanism, despite recurring massacres, unequivocally exposes that Israel’s intent is not the provision of humanitarian aid but rather the systematic use of aid as a method of slow extermination and collective humiliation.
The mechanism offers no real solution to the famine that is ravaging Gaza’s population but 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.
In light of this, PCHR urges the international community to exert pressure on Israel to abolish this mechanism that requires civilians to move to dangerous areas under IOF’s control and to resume aid entry alongside allowing the international organizations to distribute aid across areas of displacement in addition to allowing the free and uninterrupted entry of goods.
PCHR condemns opening fire on civilians, calling upon 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.
[…] The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights / June 1, 2025 […]
Greetings,
I extend my sincere thanks and deep appreciation for your noble and courageous humanitarian stances in defending the rights of the Palestinian people, and for your free voice that has broken through the walls of silence and confronted injustice and occupation with boldness and honesty.
I have sensed in your words and positions a true embodiment of the values of justice and human dignity, and I have found in your positions a ray of hope in a time when fairness is scarce. Your advocacy on behalf of the Palestinian people and your constant commitment to revealing the truth to the international community are nothing but evidence of a living conscience and a firm belief in justice.
I highly value your ongoing efforts and express my deep gratitude for your efforts to amplify the voices of the oppressed. I affirm that history will immortalize your honorable stances, and they will remain in the hearts of all who seek freedom and dignity.
With the utmost respect and appreciation,
[03/06/2025]