At least 8 dead in shooting near Israeli and US-supported aid sites in
Gaza
[June 16, 2025]
By MOHAMMAD JAHJOUH and SAMY MAGDY
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least eight Palestinians were killed
and dozens more wounded Sunday in a shooting near Israeli- and
U.S.-supported food distribution points in the Gaza Strip, according to
health officials. Witnesses blamed the Israeli military, which did not
immediately comment.
Witnesses said Israeli forces opened fire around dawn toward crowds of
desperate Palestinians heading to two aid sites in the southern city of
Rafah.
Experts and aid workers say Israel's monthslong blockade and military
campaign have caused widespread hunger and raised the risk of famine in
the population of over 2 million. The vast majority rely on
international aid because the offensive has destroyed nearly all of
Gaza’s capacity to produce food.
The war in Gaza rages more than 20 months after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023,
attack, which sparked a chain of events that helped lead to Israel’s
surprise attack on Iran on Friday.
The shooting on Sunday happened close to the sites that are operated by
the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a group that Israel and the United
States hope will replace a system of aid distribution run by the United
Nations, which has rejected the initiative, saying it violates
humanitarian principles.
Witness describes aid distribution as ‘a trap’
There have been near-daily shootings near the sites since they opened
last month. Witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly fired on
crowds, and health officials say scores have been killed. The military
has acknowledged firing warning shots at what it says were suspects
approaching its forces.
“There were wounded, dead, and martyrs,” Ahmed al-Masri told The
Associated Press on Sunday as he returned from one site empty-handed.
“It’s a trap.”
Umm Hosni al-Najjar said she joined the crowd heading to the aid point
in Rafah's Tal al-Sultan neighborhood around 4:30 a.m. She said the
shooting began as people were advancing to the site a few minutes after
her arrival.
“There were many wounded and martyrs," she said. “No one was able to
evacuate them.”
The Nasser Hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis said it received
eight bodies after the shooting.
The aid system rolled out last month has been marred by chaos and
violence, while the U.N. system has struggled to deliver food because of
Israeli restrictions and a breakdown of law and order, despite Israel
loosening a total blockade it imposed from early March to mid-May.
“A person dies next to you and you cannot carry him. If you wanted to
carry him with your hands, you would return to your children without
food. Life is death,” said Alaa Saqer, among those seeking aid.
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Palestinians carry bags containing food and humanitarian aid
packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a
U.S.-backed organization, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday,
June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Gaza’s Health Ministry said Sunday that overall, the bodies of 65
people killed by Israeli strikes or gunfire had been brought to
hospitals over the past 24 hours.
Later, al-Awda Hospital said it received the bodies of 11 people
killed in an Israeli strike on a house along Salah al-Din Street in
central Gaza. It said 35 others were wounded.
UN has criticized the new aid system
Israel and the U.S. say Hamas has siphoned aid from the U.N.-run
system, while U.N. officials say there is no evidence of systematic
diversion. The U.N. says the new system does not meet Gaza's needs,
allows Israel to control who gets aid and risks further mass
displacement as people move closer to the sites.
Two are in the southernmost city of Rafah — now mostly uninhabited —
and all three are in Israeli military zones that are off limits to
independent media.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says there has been no violence in
or around the distribution points. It has warned people to stay on
designated routes and recently paused delivery to discuss safety
measures with the military.
Separately, Israel’s military body in charge of aid coordination in
Gaza, COGAT, said 292 trucks of aid from the U.N. and international
community entered Gaza over the past week. About 600 trucks entered
per day during the latest ceasefire.
“I feed my children bread and salt, I swear to God,” said Mohammad
Misleh in Gaza City.
Hamas started the war with its Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel as
Palestinian militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians,
and took another 251 hostage. The militants still hold 53 hostages,
fewer than half of them alive, after most of the rest were released
in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s military campaign has killed over 55,300 Palestinians,
according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It says women and children make
up most of the dead but doesn’t distinguish between civilians and
combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants,
without providing evidence.
The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of
its population, often multiple times.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo.
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