Israel Massacres Starving Palestinians Waiting for Food in Gaza
On Sunday, Israeli tanks reportedly began shooting at crowds gathered at a U.S.- and Israel-backed aid distribution site, killing at least 32 and injuring more than 170.
Palestinians line up to receive food in Rafah, Gaza, in March 2024. Photo: Getty Images
It’s been two weeks since Israel partially lifted its nearly three-month humanitarian blockade on Gaza, which nearly pushed the region to the brink of famine. Now, as aid is slowly being allowed back in, it appears Israel has given Palestinians a choice between starving to death or getting shot at while trying to get food.
On Sunday, as thousands of starving Palestinians gathered at a new, Israeli-backed, highly controversial food distribution site, Israeli tanks reportedly opened fire at the crowds, killing at least 32 and injuring more than 170. On Monday morning, three more people were shot and killed, and dozens injured at the same spot, according to the Guardian. And last week, 17 Palestinians were also killed while trying to reach another one of the distribution sites, according to the Associated Press.
The aid distribution points are run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by both Israel and the U.S. in an effort they claim will prevent Hamas from seizing food or fuel. However, GHF—which was established in February and just opened its first four aid sites last week—has been accused by the United Nations and other aid groups of violating humanitarian principles, using starvation as an act of war, and aiding Israel’s efforts to take over Gaza. These groups have all refused to work with GHF.
“Aid distribution has become a death trap,” Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said in a statement on Sunday.
On Sunday, Gaza’s Government Media Office said Israeli forces opened fire on the crowds, with the International Committee of the Red Cross reporting it received 179 cases at its field hospital in Rafah, according to the New York Times. “All patients said they had been trying to reach an aid distribution site,” the Red Cross said in a statement. “This is the highest number of weapon-wounded in a single incident since the establishment of the field hospital over a year ago.”
GHF confirmed to the AP that Israeli soldiers fired “warning shots,” but denied that dozens were killed and said the reports about deaths and mass injuries were “false.” Israel denied that its soldiers fired at civilians at all, although the AP notes that they’ve “acknowledged firing warning shots on previous occasions.” Meanwhile, a military official reportedly confirmed that warning shots had been fired at “suspects” who appeared to be approaching them, according to the NYT.
Gaza’s Government Media Office further described the GHF sites as “mass death traps, not humanitarian relief points.”
“We confirm to the entire world that what is happening is a systematic and malicious use of aid as a tool of war, employed to blackmail starving civilians and forcibly gather them in exposed killing points, managed and monitored by the occupation army and funded and politically covered by … the US administration,” it said in a statement.
Israel has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians since launching their genocide in October 2023, according to Gaza’s health ministry. In November, the UN determined that 70% of those killed were women and children. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but its figures are considered reliable by the UN. Hamas is still holding 58 hostages and says they won’t be released until Israel returns more Palestinian prisoners and agrees to a lasting ceasefire. Israel says it intends to maintain control of Gaza and will not end the genocide until all hostages are returned.
