1-6-2025
At least 31 people were killed, and scores were wounded on Sunday as they were on their way to receive food in the Gaza Strip.
According to health officials and multiple witnesses, the Israeli forces fired on crowds around a kilometer away from an aid site run by an Israeli-backed foundation.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s distribution of aid has been marred by chaos, and multiple witnesses have said Israeli troops fired on crowds near the delivery sites. Before Sunday, at least six people had been killed and more than 50 wounded according to local health officials.
The Gaza Health Ministry on Sunday said 31 people were killed and 170 others were wounded, updating an earlier toll.
Hours earlier, officials at a nearby field hospital run by the Red Cross said that at least 21 people were killed and another 175 were wounded, without saying who opened fire on them. An Associated Press reporter saw dozens of wounded people being treated at the hospital.
Israel’s military said on Sunday that it “did not fire at civilians” within or around the aid centre in southern Gaza.
“In recent hours, false reports have been spread, including serious allegations against the IDF (military) regarding fire toward Gazan residents in the area of the humanitarian aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip,” the army said in a statement.
“Findings from an initial inquiry indicate that the IDF did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site and that reports to this effect are false.”
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation denied anyone was killed or injured near its site in Rafah and said that all of its distribution had taken place without incident. It accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of fabricating “fake reports”.
In an earlier statement, the foundation said it distributed 16 truckloads of aid early Sunday “without incident”. It dismissed what it referred to as “false reporting about deaths, mass injuries and chaos”.
The gunfire on Sunday erupted at a roundabout near the distribution site, in an area that is controlled by Israeli forces, witnesses said.
Ibrahim Abu Saoud, an eyewitness, said Israeli forces opened fire at people moving towards the aid distribution centre.
“There were many martyrs, including women,” the 40-year-old man said. “We were about 300 metres (yards) away from the military.”
Abu Saoud said he saw many people with gunshot wounds, including a young man who he said had died at the scene. “We weren’t able to help him,” he said.
Mohammed Abu Teaima, 33, said he saw Israeli forces open fire and kill his cousin and another woman as they were heading to the hub. He said his cousin was shot in his chest and died at the scene. Many others were wounded, including his brother-in-law, he said.
“They opened heavy fire directly towards us,” he said as he was waiting outside the Red Cross field hospital for word on his wounded relative. Agency report