Palestinian health officials and eyewitnesses say Israeli troops opened fire on civilians heading toward an aid distribution site on Tuesday, killing at least 27 people. It marks the third such incident in as many days. The Israeli military stated it fired near individuals who deviated from the approved route, approached Israeli positions, and ignored warning shots.
These frequent shootings come after a new system—backed by the U.S. and Israel—was set up to deliver aid via distribution points located within Israeli-controlled military zones. The aim is to bypass Hamas, but the United Nations has criticized the system, arguing it exacerbates Gaza’s food crisis and enables Israel to use humanitarian aid as leverage.
The Israeli army said it was reviewing Tuesday's reported casualties. It previously claimed it only fired warning shots on Sunday and Monday when similar incidents left 34 people dead, according to local health officials. Israel maintains it has not deliberately fired on civilians or prevented access to aid sites.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which manages the aid locations, denies that violence has occurred at or near their distribution points. On Tuesday, the group noted that the military was investigating whether civilians had been injured after straying from a safe corridor into a restricted area, which it emphasized was far from the actual distribution zone.
The shootings happened near the Flag Roundabout in Rafah, roughly a kilometer from a GHF aid site. This zone is under Israeli military control, and journalists are not allowed in without military clearance.
Zaher al-Waheidi of the Gaza Health Ministry confirmed at least 27 fatalities. The International Committee of the Red Cross reported that its Rafah field hospital treated 184 wounded individuals, including 19 who arrived deceased and 8 who died shortly after. The dead were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
Among the casualties were three children and two women, said Mohammed Saqr, head nurse at Nasser Hospital. Hospital director Atef al-Hout added that most had been shot.
Yasser Abu Lubda, a 50-year-old displaced Rafah resident, said gunfire broke out around 4 a.m. near the roundabout, where he saw numerous casualties. Another witness, Neima al-Aaraj from Khan Younis, described the shooting as “indiscriminate.” She said she reached the aid site but found no supplies and decided not to return after witnessing the bloodshed.
“There was no aid,” she said. “After what happened, I won’t go again. Either way we will die.”
Rasha al-Nahal, another witness, said shots came from all directions. She counted over a dozen dead and reported that Israeli forces fired on people as they tried to return from the aid center, where no supplies were found.
An AP journalist at the Red Cross hospital around 6 a.m. saw ambulances moving the injured, while empty, blood-stained flour sacks littered the ground. Many people returning from the site carried nothing.
