At least three Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded Tuesday after Israeli occupation forces opened fire near an aid distribution site in Rafah, southern Gaza, according to local officials and eyewitnesses.
The shooting unfolded during the first day of operations by the newly launched US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which began distributing food parcels following nearly three months of Israeli-imposed blockade as part of a starvation strategy targeting Gaza's population.
The foundation had announced the launch of its food distribution program two days earlier, stating that the operation would rely on four main distribution centers where families would be screened to ensure they had no links to Hamas—potentially using facial recognition technology for that purpose.
The organization’s Executive Director Jake Wood resigned on Sunday, saying he could no longer uphold the humanitarian principles of “humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence,” Reuters reported.
“These principles are not negotiable,” he said,“I will not compromise them.”
Displaced residents and civilians streamed into western Rafah—an area controlled by Israeli occupation forces—to collect food parcels. Mahmoud Abdel Karim, who had fled from Al-Mawasi near Khan Younis, told Al Manassa he rushed to the area with a group of neighbors from a displacement camp.
“We walked over six km just to get food,” Mahmoud said.
“There were signs telling us not to go to the beach or approach nearby homes. When we reached the site, less than one kilometer from the Egyptian border, we saw armed American soldiers, some of whom were speaking Bedouin-accented Arabic.”
“We weren’t searched, and no one asked for ID. There were only surveillance cameras on a metal wall, and they told us to queue for the food box,” he added.
The aid distribution came after Israel imposed a blockade beginning in early March, causing prices of basic goods—already scarce—to soar by more than twentyfold. Hunger and malnutrition have since spread widely across the territory, and desperation has deepened.
Faek Shreim, another displaced resident, said he had also made the journey hoping to receive food. He described chaotic scenes as metal barricades collapsed under the pressure of crowds that included women carrying children and elderly people on makeshift wheelchairs.
Thousands of Palestinians receive relief aid after three months of Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip. May 27, 2025.“As soon as the fences collapsed, the Americans withdrew immediately. People started grabbing whatever boxes they could and heading back,” he told Al Manassa.
The organization confirmed Shreim’s account, saying that the sheer volume of people at the site forced its team to pull back in order to allow the crowd to access food more safely and avoid further harm.
GHF also said that people had faced long delays reaching the site due to movement restrictions imposed by Hamas. The group reported that it had so far distributed 8,000 food boxes containing a total of 462,000 meals.
According to Shreim, the Israeli occupation forces had stationed themselves near the distribution points. When panic broke out and the crowd surged forward, he said, the soldiers opened fire on civilians using drones.
“The drones started firing into the crowd. Some were injured, and others were killed,” he recounted.
The Gaza Government Media Office condemned the incident, calling it a “massacre against starving civilians” and accusing Israeli occupation forces of targeting people who were desperate for food after enduring months without aid.
“This is a war crime against a population that has been besieged and starved for more than 90 days,” the office said in a statement. It reported three deaths, 46 injuries and at least seven people unaccounted for.
The Israeli occupation army denied the accusations, saying its troops fired warning shots outside the distribution compound to control the chaos.
“Our forces acted to restore order. There was no aerial strike,” said Avichay Adraee, spokesperson for the Israeli army. He added that aid deliveries would continue as planned.
The Israeli occupation army resumed its assault on the Gaza Strip on March 18, renewing a war it launched on October 7, 2023. The escalation followed Israel’s refusal to uphold a ceasefire agreement that took effect on January 19 and was intended to culminate in a full exchange of detainees held by Hamas and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
