At least 31 Palestinians killed in Israeli attack near US aid center in Gaza
At least 31 Palestinians killed in Israeli attack near US aid center in Gaza
The Gaza Health Ministry said the dead were shot in the head and chest
The Gaza Health Ministry said the dead were shot in the head and chest
A group of Palestinian men at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip perform an Islamic prayer for the deceased, a Janaza, on a Palestinian killed by an Israeli attack near a US-backed aid distribution center in the Palestinian enclave's southernmost city of Rafah on Sunday, June 1, 2025. [Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images]
A group of Palestinian men at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip perform an Islamic prayer for the deceased, a Janaza, on a Palestinian killed by an Israeli attack near a US-backed aid distribution center in the Palestinian enclave's southernmost city of Rafah on Sunday, June 1, 2025. [Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images]
Israeli forces early Sunday morning fired upon thousands of Palestinians gathered near a United States-backed aid distribution center in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city of Rafah, killing at least 31 and injuring more than 170, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
“Every martyr who arrived in the hospitals was shot with only one shot in the head or chest,” the ministry said in a statement.
Multiple witnesses spoke to multiple news outlets and said that Israeli drones, tanks and quadcopters opened fire in all directions on the large crowd, and described the chaotic scene
The attack occurred before 5 am local time, according to eyewitness Khaled Shurrab, a 33-year-old Gaza resident who spoke to The Washington Post. He said that the gunfire was coming from Israeli military positions near al-Alam Square, a roundabout roughly one kilometer from the aid site.
“I saw so many injured people,” Shurrab said.
Marwa al-Naouq, another resident, told the Middle East Eye that “dozens were killed and injured as people ran in every direction, trying to escape.”
However, both the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the privately-run, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which organized the aid distribution, denied responsibility.
“The IDF claims that they “did not fire at civilians,” while the GHF called the reports as "fake" and "actively fomented by Hamas.”
Several aid organizations, including United Nations agencies, have refused to cooperate with GHF. Its aid efforts, ongoing since May 26, have been widely criticized as chaotic.
“Humanitarian aid distribution has become a death trap,” UNRWA aid chief Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees wrote on X.
“Mass casualties including scores of injured and killed among starving civilians due to gunshots this morning,” he added.
Over 200 people including women and children were transported to nearby medical sites, including the Nasser Hospital Complex in Khan Younis, about 10 miles north of Rafah, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The medical volunteer organization Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) explained the hospital has faced severe shortages of medical supplies since March 2, according to the medical volunteer organization Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières).
Its staff described the incident as a “massacre,” adding that some physicians were forced to donate their own blood due to the overwhelming number of wounded.
Israeli forces early Sunday morning fired upon thousands of Palestinians gathered near a United States-backed aid distribution center in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city of Rafah, killing at least 31 and injuring more than 170, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
“Every martyr who arrived in the hospitals was shot with only one shot in the head or chest,” the ministry said in a statement.
Multiple witnesses spoke to multiple news outlets and said that Israeli drones, tanks and quadcopters opened fire in all directions on the large crowd, and described the chaotic scene
The attack occurred before 5 am local time, according to eyewitness Khaled Shurrab, a 33-year-old Gaza resident who spoke to The Washington Post. He said that the gunfire was coming from Israeli military positions near al-Alam Square, a roundabout roughly one kilometer from the aid site.
“I saw so many injured people,” Shurrab said.
Marwa al-Naouq, another resident, told the Middle East Eye that “dozens were killed and injured as people ran in every direction, trying to escape.”
However, both the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the privately-run, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which organized the aid distribution, denied responsibility.
“The IDF claims that they “did not fire at civilians,” while the GHF called the reports as "fake" and "actively fomented by Hamas.”
Several aid organizations, including United Nations agencies, have refused to cooperate with GHF. Its aid efforts, ongoing since May 26, have been widely criticized as chaotic.
“Humanitarian aid distribution has become a death trap,” UNRWA aid chief Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees wrote on X.
“Mass casualties including scores of injured and killed among starving civilians due to gunshots this morning,” he added.
Over 200 people including women and children were transported to nearby medical sites, including the Nasser Hospital Complex in Khan Younis, about 10 miles north of Rafah, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The medical volunteer organization Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) explained the hospital has faced severe shortages of medical supplies since March 2, according to the medical volunteer organization Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières).
Its staff described the incident as a “massacre,” adding that some physicians were forced to donate their own blood due to the overwhelming number of wounded.
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