Massacres at Food Lines: Civilian Deaths Mount as Israel Hits ‘Aid’ Centers
The Government Media Office in Gaza reiterated its readiness to receive and secure international aid convoys, emphasizing the importance of cooperation with United Nations agencies.
Scores of Palestinians were killed or injured on Sunday in two separate Israeli massacres near aid distribution centers in the southern and central Gaza Strip, as international concern mounts over the humanitarian collapse and the failure of the Israeli-backed ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’.
Al-Jazeera cited medical sources in the Gaza Strip as saying that four people were killed and at least 70 wounded by Israeli occupation forces’ gunfire near a US-supervised aid center west of Rafah.
Separately, Al-Awda Hospital confirmed that one Palestinian was killed and others injured by Israeli fire near another aid site along the Netzarim axis in central Gaza—also reportedly run by the same US-linked foundation.
Now that the genie is out of the bottle despite Benjamin Netanyahu’s vain efforts to suppress news of a devious third-force element he set up to counter Palestinian resistance, be sure the proverbial “bad changes” will haunt him.
Read the latest article by Iqbal Jassat.… pic.twitter.com/i3OkFm2VU2
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) June 7, 2025
An Al-Jazeera correspondent corroborated the incidents, confirming two additional deaths near the Rafah site.
These killings bring the death toll to 110 Palestinians killed and 583 injured since May 27 while attempting to obtain food aid distributed under the supervision of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to the Government Media Office in Gaza.
Local authorities and eyewitnesses have accused Israeli forces of repeatedly targeting civilians waiting in line for food, often in full view of international aid staff.
Nine people remain missing from previous attacks, and the situation continues to deteriorate as hunger deepens.
‘Complete Failure’
On Saturday, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation publicly admitted its failure to distribute food, claiming there were direct threats from the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas.
The foundation, operating under the protection of the Israeli army and with no transparency regarding its funding or logistical mechanisms, announced that it was adjusting its operations.
A Hamas official strongly rejected the allegations, telling Reuters news agency there were no known threats against the organization. On the contrary, the official said the Qassam Brigades would deploy snipers to protect UN-led relief operations from looters and armed gangs, a response to the collapse in law and order triggered by the prolonged siege.
The foundation’s distribution centers, which replaced facilities formerly managed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), have become frequent sites of Israeli attacks. UNRWA has been banned by Israeli authorities since early 2024.
Despite the pain, the destruction, and the fact that this is the fourth Eid we’ve spent under war, I will not let sorrow steal my right to feel joy.
Read the latest story by Taqwa al-Wawi, writing from war-torn Gaza.https://t.co/FWQXZQK7kB pic.twitter.com/5T0zCvjYK3
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) June 6, 2025
In a statement, the Government Media Office in Gaza reiterated its readiness to receive and secure international aid convoys, emphasizing the importance of cooperation with United Nations agencies.
It condemned Israeli-American alternatives as a “complete failure,” responsible for creating chaos, mismanagement, and avoidable bloodshed.
Since the war began, at least 750 humanitarian police officers and thousands of civil employees involved in aid logistics have been killed by Israeli strikes, according to the statement.
Civilian Casualties Mount
Beyond the aid-related massacres, Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip continued through Saturday night and Sunday. The Gaza Civil Defense reported that 15 people were killed in the Al-Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City, and dozens were left injured or trapped under rubble after Israeli warplanes struck a residential building.
Elsewhere, Israeli artillery and airstrikes targeted the Qizan al-Najjar and Qizan Rashwan areas south of Khan Yunis. The Batn al-Sameen district was also hit during heavy aerial activity over the city. Hospitals across Gaza reported 81 deaths from Israeli attacks since dawn Saturday.
Khaled Al-Dughma went to the US aid distribution center in Rafah this morning, hoping to secure food for his children. He was killed by Israeli forces, along with three others, while waiting for aid. He returned home as a lifeless body. pic.twitter.com/8fEPvBg9tp
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) June 8, 2025
The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement announced that its Secretary-General, Asaad Abu Sharia, was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike that killed members of his family in Sabra.
Resistance Operations
Palestinian resistance factions reported new ambushes against Israeli forces across the Strip. The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said it detonated a tunnel bomb targeting an Israeli infantry unit in the Murtaja area, southeast of Khan Yunis, resulting in multiple casualties.
In northern Gaza, the Al-Quds Brigades of the Islamic Jihad Movement said they ambushed Israeli troops sheltering in a building in the Tel al-Zaatar area, east of Jabalia refugee camp, using reverse-engineered explosives.
The group also reported shelling Israeli vehicles east of Khan Yunis.
Humanitarian Catastrophe
Since the beginning of the Israeli onslaught on October 7, 2023, more than 180,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded—most of them women and children—according to Gaza’s health authorities.
Over 14,000 remain missing. Famine, disease, and constant bombardment have compounded the suffering of an already besieged population.
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Despite a May 19 decision by Israel to allow limited UN aid operations to resume after an 11-week total blockade, the United Nations has described these efforts as a mere “drop in the ocean.”
Western countries and humanitarian groups have increasingly criticized the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s replacement of UNRWA as politically driven and operationally ineffective.
Meanwhile, the Government Media Office has called on the Palestinian public to help safeguard aid convoys from chaos or diversion, stressing that these lifelines must reach the displaced and destitute families who “have paid the heaviest price in this war.”
(PC, AJA)