"Palestinians gunned down while trying to reach food aid site in Gaza, hospital says", 1 June 2025

More than 30 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire...as they went to receive food at an aid distribution point set up by an Israeli-backed foundation in Gaza...

“My brother went to receive aid from the American distribution points in Rafah when the bullets started raining down on them,” Yarin Abu al-Naja, 44, said. “The Israeli soldiers had started shooting at the people there. My brother went with two of his friends. One of them was critically injured in the head, the other was killed, and my brother was shot in the back.”...

The International Committee of the Red Cross said (ICRC) its field hospital in Rafah received a “mass casualty influx” of 179 people, 21 of whom were declared dead upon arrival. “All patients said they had been trying to reach an aid distribution site,” the ICRC added, describing it as “the highest number of weapon-wounded in a single incident since the establishment of the field hospital over a year ago”.

Local health authorities said at least 31 of the dead were taken to Nasser hospital.

The Red Crescent also reported a further 14 Palestinians were injured near a separate aid distribution site in central Gaza...

The Israeli-backed aid foundation claimed that it delivered aid “without incident” early on Sunday and has denied previous accounts of gunfire around its sites, which are in Israeli military zones where independent access is limited.”....

The GHF has hired private security firms, but according to witnesses, the private contractors did not open fire on the crowd.

“Inside the gate, there were armed American soldiers, but they did not fire at us,” Baraka said. “They only threw plastic stun grenades in the square to scare people and clear the area once the aid ran out.”

Reuters footage showed ambulance vehicles carrying injured people to Nasser hospital. Other clips emerged showing people running and ducking, with apparent gunfire audible in the background. One piece of footage seems to have been filmed in the Salah al-Din Road, just south of an aid distribution site in the Netzarim corridor.

“The situation in the hospital is catastrophic, due to the massacre of the hungry in Rafah city, near the aid distribution centre,” said Dr Marwan al-Hams, 53, a medic in the emergency department at Nasser hospital. “Most injuries were shot in the upper parts of the body – the head, chest, and abdomen – as the Israeli army was reportedly firing from high altitudes using aircraft or quadcopters. A witness on the scene said that shots were also fired from a crane and from tanks.”...

On 28 May, Hamas accused Israel of killing at least three Palestinians and wounding 46 near one of the GHF’s distribution sites, an accusation the group denied...