Thirty Palestinians were killed and dozens injured on Sunday morning in a new massacre committed by Israeli occupation forces, who opened fire from military vehicles at civilians heading to an aid distribution point west of Rafah, in southern Gaza, according to the official Palestinian news agency.
اضافة اعلان
This incident comes amid Israel’s ongoing policy of systematic starvation following the closure of all border crossings for over 90 days, which has blocked humanitarian aid, especially food, pushing the majority of Gaza’s population toward famine.
The Government Media Office in Gaza stated that Israeli forces have turned U.S.-Israeli aid distribution sites into “mass killing traps,” reporting that 22 Palestinians were killed and more than 115 injured at these sites early Sunday, bringing the total to 39 killed and over 220 injured at these locations in less than a week.
In a press statement, the office confirmed that "Israeli occupation forces committed yet another massacre against starving civilians who had gathered at humanitarian aid distribution sites secured by the Israeli military in what are known as buffer zones in Rafah. This recurring crime exposes the false claims of humanitarian concern.”
It added that “this bloody scene reveals the true nature of these zones—not as humanitarian relief points, but as death traps.”
According to the statement, “What is happening is a deliberate and sinister use of humanitarian aid as a weapon of war, aimed at coercing hungry civilians and forcing them into open killing zones managed and surveilled by the Israeli army, with political and financial backing from Israel and the U.S. administration—both of which bear full ethical and legal responsibility for these crimes.”
The buffer-zone aid distribution project was described as a “dangerous and failed initiative that serves as cover for Israel’s military and security policies.” The statement asserts that what is occurring constitutes “further proof of a systematic, premeditated genocide plan: starvation followed by mass execution at aid points. This is a full-fledged war crime under international law, particularly Article II of the 1948 Genocide Convention.”
The office held Israel fully responsible for the ongoing massacres at so-called aid distribution sites, which are being carried out under a false humanitarian pretense, and also held the U.S. directly responsible for weaponizing food in the war on Gaza.
It called on the United Nations and the Security Council to uphold their legal and humanitarian obligations by immediately opening official border crossings without restriction and enabling UN and international organizations to deliver aid independently, free of Israeli interference.
The statement also urged the urgent formation of an independent international investigative committee to document these massacres, including the killings at aid distribution points, and to hold those responsible accountable before international courts.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been committing what has been described as acts of genocide in Gaza, resulting in more than 178,000 people killed or injured—most of them children and women—as well as over 11,000 missing persons and hundreds of thousands of displaced people who are now without shelter or food.
