Five killed near Gaza aid sites as Israeli forces open fire, Palestinians say

On a Sunday morning in early June, at least five Palestinians were killed near aid distribution points in Gaza as Israeli forces opened fire. The dead arrived at hospitals in Khan Younis and elsewhere; the wounded numbered in the dozens. Palestinian witnesses and health officials said the shooting happened as people moved toward sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a new organization backed by Israel and the United States. Israel's military offered a different account: it had fired warning shots at suspects who approached its forces and ignored orders to retreat, it said, in an area designated as an active combat zone after dark.

The incident was not isolated. Over the past two weeks, shootings near these new aid hubs have killed more than eighty people, according to Gaza hospital officials. On this single day, at least 108 bodies were brought to hospitals across the territory. The pattern reflects a deeper crisis: Gaza's roughly two million Palestinians depend almost entirely on international aid because the war—now in its twentieth month—has destroyed nearly all local food production. The new aid distribution points, set up inside Israeli military zones where independent journalists cannot access, have become the primary mechanism for delivering food to a desperate population.

Adham Dahman was at Nasser Hospital with a bandage on his chin when he described what happened. A tank had fired toward the crowd, he said. "We didn't know how to escape," he told those around him. "This is trap for us, not aid." Another witness, Zahed Ben Hassan, said someone standing beside him was shot in the head. He and others pulled the body away from the scene. The military had announced on Friday that the sites would be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and that the area would be a closed military zone outside those hours. The shooting began around 6 a.m., when people arrived early, hoping to collect food before crowds gathered. "They said it was a safe area from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m.," Ben Hassan said. "So why did they start shooting at us? There was light out, and they have their cameras and can clearly see us."

At the hospital, children stood over their father's body. "I can't see you like this, Dad!" one daughter cried. Al-Awda Hospital received the body of a 42-year-old man and treated twenty-nine wounded from another Gaza Humanitarian Foundation site in central Gaza. The military said it had fired warning shots in that area around 6:40 a.m. but saw no casualties—a claim that contradicted the hospital's count. A Gaza Humanitarian Foundation official, speaking anonymously, said there was no violence at or around its distribution sites, all three of which operated on Sunday. The group had closed them temporarily the previous week to discuss safety measures with Israel's military and had warned people to use only designated access routes.

The new aid system represents a significant shift in how assistance reaches Gaza. Israel and the United States accuse Hamas of stealing aid distributed through the previous UN-coordinated system. The UN denies there is systematic diversion. But the UN has also warned that the new system cannot meet the territory's mounting needs, allows Israel to control who receives aid, and forces people to relocate to wherever sites are positioned. UN officials say their own efforts to deliver aid have been hindered by Israeli military restrictions, the collapse of law and order, and widespread looting. Experts warned earlier this year that Gaza faced critical famine risk if Israel did not lift its blockade and halt its military campaign. Both the blockade and the offensive were renewed in March.

The war itself began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel that killed roughly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages. Hamas still holds 55 hostages, fewer than half of them alive. Israel's military campaign has killed over 54,800 Palestinians according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which notes that women and children make up most of the dead but does not specify how many were civilians or combatants. Israel claims to have killed over 20,000 militants without providing evidence. The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around ninety percent of its population. Ceasefire negotiations, mediated by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, have been deadlocked for months. Hamas says it will only release remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire, and an Israeli withdrawal. Israeli officials say the offensive will continue until all hostages are returned and Hamas is defeated, disarmed, or exiled.