31 Palestinians are killed heading to a Gaza aid site, witnesses say.
Israel denies responsibility
[June 02, 2025]
By MOHAMMAD JAHJOUH and SAMY MAGDY
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least 31 people were killed and over 170
were wounded Sunday as large crowds were on their way to receive food in
the Gaza Strip, health officials and witnesses said. Witnesses said
Israeli forces fired toward the crowds just before dawn around a
kilometer (about 1,100 yards) from an aid site run by an Israeli-backed
foundation.
Israel’s military denied its forces fired at civilians near or within
the site in the southern city of Rafah. An Israeli military official,
speaking on condition of anonymity in line with procedure, said troops
fired warning shots at several suspects advancing toward them overnight.
The military also released drone footage it said was shot Sunday,
apparently in daylight, in the southern city of Khan Younis, showing
what it said were armed, masked men firing at civilians trying to
collect aid. The Associated Press could not independently verify the
video, and it was not clear who was being targeted. “Hamas is doing
everything in its power to prevent the successful distribution of food
in Gaza," the statement said.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — promoted by Israel and the United
States — said in a statement it delivered aid “without incident,” and
released a separate video it said was shot Sunday at the site that
appeared to show people collecting aid. The AP was not able to verify
the video. The foundation has denied previous accounts of chaos and
gunfire around its sites, which are in Israeli military zones where
independent media has no access.
It was the deadliest incident yet around the new aid distribution
system, which has operated for less than a week.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement its
field hospital in Rafah received 179 casualties including women and
children, 21 of them declared dead upon arrival, the majority with
gunshot or shrapnel wounds. It was unclear if any of the dead were
militants.
“All patients said they had been trying to reach an aid distribution
site,” the ICRC said, calling it the highest number of “weapon-wounded”
people in a single incident since the hospital was set up over a year
ago.
The head of the World Food Program, Cindy McCain, told ABC News that
staffers on the ground were reporting people killed and called it a
“tragedy.”
“Aid distribution has become a death trap,” the head of the United
Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, said in a
statement.
In a separate statement, Israeli military chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal
Zamir ordered that more aid sites be established — and that troops'
ground operation be expanded in unspecified parts of northern and
southern Gaza.
A new aid system marred by chaos
Multiple witnesses have said Israeli troops fired on crowds near the
foundation's sites. Before Sunday, 17 people were killed while trying to
reach them, according to Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the Gaza Health
Ministry’s records department.
The foundation says private security contractors guarding its sites have
not fired on crowds. Israel's military has acknowledged firing warning
shots on previous occasions.
The foundation said in a statement it distributed 16 truckloads of aid
early Sunday “without incident,” and dismissed what it described as
“false reporting about deaths, mass injuries and chaos.”
U.N. agencies and major aid groups have refused to work with the new
system, saying it violates humanitarian principles.
‘The scene was horrible’
Thousands of people headed toward the distribution site hours before
dawn. As they approached, Israeli forces ordered them to disperse and
come back later, witnesses said. When the crowds reached the Flag
Roundabout, around 1 kilometer away, at around 3 a.m., Israeli forces
opened fire, the witnesses said.
“There was fire from all directions, from naval warships, from tanks and
drones,” said Amr Abu Teiba, who was in the crowd.
He said he saw at least 10 bodies with gunshot wounds and several other
wounded people, including women. People used carts to ferry the dead and
wounded. “The scene was horrible," he said.
Most people were shot “in the upper part of their bodies, including the
head, neck and chest," said Dr. Marwan al-Hams, a Health Ministry
official at Nasser Hospital, where many were transferred from the Red
Cross field hospital. A colleague, surgeon Khaled al-Ser, said 150
wounded people had arrived, along with 28 bodies.
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Palestinians run following an Israeli strike in Gaza City, Sunday,
June 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
The hospital corridors were filled with patients, "but unlike what I
have witnessed before, where most of the patients were women and
children, today it was mainly men,” a spokesperson with medical
charity MSF, Nour Alsaqa, said in a statement.
Ibrahim Abu Saoud, another witness, said the military fired from
about 300 meters (yards) away. He said he saw many people with
gunshot wounds, including a young man who died at the scene. “We
weren’t able to help him,” he said.
Mohammed Abu Teaima, 33, said he saw Israeli forces open fire and
kill his cousin and a woman as they headed toward the distribution
site. He said his cousin was shot in his chest, and his
brother-in-law was among the wounded.
“They opened heavy fire directly toward us,” he said.
An AP reporter arrived at the field hospital at around 6 a.m. and
saw dozens of wounded, including women and children. The reporter
also saw crowds of people returning from the distribution point.
Some carried boxes of aid but most appeared to be empty-handed.
Gaza's Health Ministry said least 31 people were killed and over 170
were wounded.
“This is sinful, enough with the humiliation. They humiliated us for
the sake of food,” said Ilham Jarghon as fellow Palestinians wept
and prayed for the dead.
Later Sunday, Israeli artillery shells struck tents sheltering
displaced people in Khan Younis, killing three and wounding at least
30, according to Nasser Hospital. Israel’s military said it was
looking into it.
The UN says new aid system violates humanitarian principles
Israel and the U.S. say the new system is aimed at preventing Hamas
from siphoning off assistance. Israel has not provided evidence of
systematic diversion, and the U.N. denies it has occurred.
U.N. agencies and major aid groups say the new system allows Israel
to control who receives aid and forces people to relocate to
distribution sites, risking yet more mass displacement in the
coastal territory.
“It's essentially engineered scarcity," Jonathan Whittall, interim
head in Gaza of the U.N. humanitarian office, said last week.
The U.N. system has struggled to bring in aid after Israel slightly
eased its nearly three-month blockade of the territory last month.
The groups say Israeli restrictions, the breakdown of law and order
and widespread looting make it extremely difficult to deliver aid to
Gaza's roughly 2 million Palestinians.
Experts have warned that the territory is at risk of famine if more
aid is not brought in.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel
on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and
abducting 251. They are still holding 58 hostages, around a third
believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in
ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel's military campaign has killed over 54,000 people in
Hamas-run Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's
Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were
civilians or combatants. The offensive has destroyed vast areas,
displaced around 90% of the population and left people almost
completely reliant on international aid.
The latest efforts at ceasefire talks appeared to stumble Saturday
when Hamas said it had sought amendments to a U.S. ceasefire
proposal that Israel had approved, and the U.S. envoy called that
“unacceptable.”
Mediators Qatar and Egypt in a joint statement Sunday said they
continued “intensive efforts to bridge the gaps in viewpoints” and
hoped for “a swift agreement for a temporary ceasefire lasting 60
days, leading to a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.”
___
Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Tia Goldenberg in
Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
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