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'The Witkoff Massacre': Hundreds Killed or Wounded as Israeli Forces Open Fire on Gaza Food Aid Site
"The new U.S.-Israeli genocide strategy: starve the population, lure them with promises of aid, then kill them."
Jun 01, 2025
Fresh international outrage erupted on Sunday after Israeli forces opened fire on hundreds of starving Palestinians in Gaza gathered at a food distribution point where they had been directed by Israeli officials, resulting in a massacre described by witnesses as the largest since a new U.S.-backed humanitarian plan run by Israel was put in place last month.
Health officials in Gaza and multiple witnesses at the site near the southern city of Rafah reported that "Israeli forces fired on crowds around a kilometer (1,000 yards) away from an aid site run by an Israeli-backed foundation," according to the Associated Press.
"The international community must act immediately and decisively to compel Israel to end its inhumane aid distribution mechanism in Gaza, following today’s massacre near a U.S.-backed aid centre south of Rafah, where Israeli forces killed or injured over 220 starving civilians," said the Switzerland-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med), in a Sunday morning statement, which had personnel on the ground near the aid station.
"Let them stop these massacres, stop this genocide. They are killing us."
According to the group:Euro-Med Monitor’s field team documented Israeli forces opening fire on thousands of civilians gathered at dawn today, Sunday, 1 June 2025, in Tel al-Sultan, Rafah, near an aid distribution centre established by the Israeli army. Preliminary data indicate that the attack killed at least 31 civilians, including two women, and injured more than 200 others. Several remain missing.
The death toll is expected to rise due to the high number of critical injuries and the severe collapse of the healthcare system caused by the blockade and Israeli targeting of medical facilities.
In early May, as Common Dreams reported, United Nations aid officials and other humanitarian relief experts warned against the plan put forward by Israel and backed by the Trump administration that would allow a private and newly created Israeli foundation, euphemistically named the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, to administer the delivery of aid across Gaza with security provided by the IDF and U.S. mercenary soldiers.
"There is no reason to put in place a system that is at odds with the DNA of any principled humanitarian organization," said Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), on May 9.
The controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been marred by controversy since its creation last month and denounced as operating as cover for Israel's ongoing atrocities against the Palestinian people in Gaza, said in a statement reviewed by the AP that it distributed 16 truckloads of aid early Sunday "without incident," and dismissed what it referred to as "false reporting about deaths, mass injuries and chaos."
Footage and testimony from witnesses at the scene posted online, however, made those claims look like lies:
Dr. Ramy Abdul, a professor of law and Euro-Med chair, however, shared footage of the scene where the killings and chaos took place and said: "The new U.S.-Israeli genocide strategy: starve the population, lure them with promises of aid, then kill them."
The new U.S.-Israeli genocide strategy: starve the population, lure them with promises of aid, then kill them.#WitkoffMassacre pic.twitter.com/Hq1O1evEm9
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) June 1, 2025
As did others, Abdul dubbed the horrific event the "Witkoff Massacre," a reference to President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, now in charge of brokering a U.S.-sponsored cease-fire deal between Hamas and the Israeli government.
The AP reports:
Thousands of people headed toward the distribution site hours before dawn. As they headed toward the site, Israeli forces ordered them to disperse and come back later, witnesses said. When the crowds reached the Flag Roundabout, around 1 kilometer (1,000 yards) away, at around 3 a.m., Israeli forces opened fire, the witnesses said.
"There was fire from all directions, from naval warships, from tanks and drones," said Amr Abu Teiba, who was in the crowd.
He said he saw at least 10 bodies with gunshot wounds and several other wounded people, including women. People used carts to ferry the dead and wounded to the field hospital. "The scene was horrible," he said.
Most of the casualties were shot "in the upper part of their bodies, including the head, neck and chest," said Dr. Marwan al-Hams, a health ministry official at Nasser Hospital, where many of the wounded were transferred after being initially brought to a field hospital run by the Red Cross.
In a point-by-point breakdown on Friday, Drop Site News' Jeremy Scahill detailed that Witkoff, through his negotiations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is trying to "strong-arm Hamas into a deal that does not end the genocide" that continues apace in Gaza.
After Israel last week rejected tentative language amenable to both the U.S. and Hamas negotiators, Witkoff responded on Saturday to an updated draft submitted by Hamas with a rejection of his own, calling it "totally unacceptable."
Meanwhile, the threat of famine for the entire population of Gaza continues—all with firm U.S. backing and complicity, infuriating humanitarians worldwide as the death and suffering mounts.
Reda Abu Jazar told Al-Jazeera on Sunday that her brother was among those killed as he attempted to retrieve food at the distribution site in Rafah.
"Let them stop these massacres, stop this genocide. They are killing us," she said.
Multiple deadly incidents over recent weeks at the aid delivery sites set up by the Israelis led Euro-Med on Sunday, following the latest massacre, to say "these incidents should not be dismissed as procedural issues fixable through operational adjustments."
"They must be understood within the broader context of the grave consequences of the Israeli military's control over humanitarian aid" in Gaza, the group continued. "It is inconceivable that the same entity accused of committing genocide for nearly 20 months can be entrusted with improving the humanitarian conditions of the very population it targets."
Euro-Med called for an "immediate end to the Israeli aid distribution mechanism in the Gaza Strip... as it has become a site of field executions and fails to meet even the most basic humanitarian standards."
The group called for the reinstatement of UN-led relief operations "to ensure the safe and effective delivery of aid to Gaza's population."
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UN Chief Demands 'Lifesaving Aid for the Long-Suffering People of Gaza'
He also took aim at Israel's aid plan, saying that "we will not take part in any scheme that fails to respect international law and the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence, and neutrality."
May 23, 2025
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday stressed the dire need for a major influx of "lifesaving aid for the long-suffering people of Gaza," where Palestinians are dying from not only U.S.-backed Israeli bombings but also malnutrition and lack of medicine.
"Palestinians in Gaza are enduring what may be the cruelest phase of this cruel conflict," Guterres told reporters. "For nearly 80 days, Israel blocked the entry of lifesaving international aid. As the world's leading hunger assessment found, the entire population of Gaza is facing the risk of famine. Families are being starved and denied the very basics. All with the world watching in real time."
"Israel has clear obligations under international humanitarian law," he noted. "It must treat civilians humanely, with respect for their inherent dignity. It must not forcibly transport, deport, or displace the civilian population of an occupied territory. And as the occupying power, it must agree to allow and facilitate the aid that is needed."
"Without rapid, reliable, safe, and sustained aid access, more people will die—and the long-term consequences on the entire population will be profound."
In March, Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza, then ditched a fragile cease-fire with Hamas, which governed the coastal enclave for nearly two decades. In recent days, Israeli officials have finally allowed "a trickle of aid" into the territory, Guterres acknowledged, explaining that while almost 400 trucks were cleared for entry through the Karem Abu Salem crossing, supplies from only 115 trucks have been able to be collected "and nothing has reached the besieged north."
In a Friday statement, the U.N.'s World Food Program announced that 15 of its trucks transporting critical food supplies "were looted late last night in southern Gaza, while en route to WFP-supported bakeries."
"Hunger, desperation, and anxiety over whether more food aid is coming, is contributing to rising insecurity," WFP said. "We need support from the Israeli authorities to get far greater volumes of food assistance into Gaza faster, more consistently, and transported along safer routes, as was done during the cease-fire."
"WFP cannot safely operate under a distribution system that limits the number of bakeries and sites where Gaza's population can access food," the program added. "WFP and its partners must also be allowed to distribute wheat flour and food parcels directly to families—the most effective way to prevent widespread starvation."
Guterres similarly emphasized that "all the aid authorized until now amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required," and called out "staggering" obstacles imposed by Israeli officials, from "strict quotas" on goods the U.N. distributes to prohibitions on "other essentials—including fuel, shelter, cooking gas, and water purification supplies."
He said that without safety and security mitigation measures for U.N. convoys, "and in the absence of the rule of law and a desperate population after months of blockade, and totally insufficient supply entering, the risk of security incidents and looting remains high. Meanwhile, the Israeli military offensive is intensifying with atrocious levels of death and destruction."
Due to Israeli military actions, "four-fifths of the territory of Gaza is a no-go zone" for the enclave's Palestinian residents," Guterres noted. "And so, beyond questions about the particular number of trucks at any particular moment, it is important to stay fixed on the big picture. And the big picture is that without rapid, reliable, safe, and sustained aid access, more people will die—and the long-term consequences on the entire population will be profound."
Already, Gaza officials put the death toll at 53,822 Palestinians since October 7, 2023, though thousands more are presumed dead and buried beneath the rubble.
The U.N. chief also took aim at Israel's U.S.-supported aid plan, saying that "we will not take part in any scheme that fails to respect international law and the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence, and neutrality."
As Reuters reported Friday:
Israel has allowed aid deliveries by the U.N. and other aid groups to briefly resume until a new U.S.-backed distribution model—run by the newly created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation—is up and running by the end of the month...
Israel said its blockade had been aimed in part at stopping Palestinian militants Hamas from diverting and seizing aid supplies. Hamas has denied stealing aid. The GHF plan involves using private security contractors to transport aid to so-called secure hubs for distribution by civilian humanitarian teams.
"The United Nations and our partners have a detailed, principled, operationally sound five-stage plan—supported by member states—to get aid to a desperate population," Guterres highlighted. "We have the personnel, the distribution networks, the systems, and community relationships in place to act. The supplies—160,000 pallets, enough to fill nearly 9,000 trucks—are waiting."
In addition to demanding "full humanitarian access," the U.N. leader reiterated his call for "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" and a "permanent cease-fire" in Gaza.
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UN Warns 14,000 Babies in Gaza Could Die in 48 Hours Without True Lift of Israeli Blockade
"The limited entry of aid into Gaza cannot be mistaken for meaningful progress," said one humanitarian expert.
May 20, 2025
The United Nations estimated that the Netanyahu government's continued starvation of more than 2 million Palestinians could kill up to 14,000 infants in the next two days without a serious influx of aid.
News outlets have reported since Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowed five aid trucks carrying baby food and other nutritional aid into the besieged enclave—but humanitarian experts and workers have decried the arrival of the aid as "a trickle among a sea of need."
Tom Fletcher, under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs for the United Nations, said the tiny amount of aid was a "drop in the ocean" in a bombarded enclave where food security experts announced earlier this month that nearly a quarter of a million people are facing "extreme deprivation of food" and the entire population has "very high" levels of acute malnutrition and excess mortality.
While many medical workers have been killed in Israeli bombings, Fletcher told the BBC's Radio 4 "Today" program that teams have assessed that 14,000 infants are likely to die within 48 hours if food aid can't reach them. The small amount of trucks allowed in through the Karem Abu Salem crossing Monday—a fraction of the 600 per day that provided food, medications, water, and other aid to Palestinians during the recent cease-fire—have yet to actually reach civilians.
On Tuesday, 100 more U.N. trucks were given clearance to enter Gaza. Fletcher said humanitarian workers fear potential looting of aid trucks due to the chaotic, desperate situation faced by Palestinians.
The current blockade began March 2, and international humanitarian groups operating in Gaza have exhausted their reserves of food aid over the past 79 days.
"For over 70 days Israel has been starving the people of Gaza, depriving them of food, water, medicine, and essential supplies while escalating its cruel and indiscriminate bombing campaign," said Wassem Mushtaha, Gaza response lead for Oxfam. "Two million people are on the brink of famine, and they are not just starving, but also traumatized, sick, and displaced from their homes."
"The limited entry of aid into Gaza cannot be mistaken for meaningful progress, especially alongside the expansion of Israel's brutal bombing campaign across the Gaza Strip," said Mushtaha. "It is not a turning point, but at best a narrow concession that seems to reflect mounting international pressure."
The continued blockade on effectively all humanitarian aid prompted the United Kingdom, Canada, and France to issue a joint statement Monday saying that "the level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable" and threatening "targeted sanctions."
On Tuesday, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Parliament that the government had suspended trade negotiations over Netanyahu's blockade and plan to expand military operations across Gaza.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Tuesday that the country also supports a review of the European Union's trade relationship with Gaza.
"The blind violence and the blockade of humanitarian aid by the Israeli government have turned the enclave into a death trap, not to say a cemetery," Barrot said. "This must stop... It is an absolute violation of all the rules of international law."
The European leaders' comments were a departure from many Western governments' insistence since 2023 that Israel is operating in self-defense and that it is targeting Hamas in retaliation for the group's attack on October 7, 2023. Humanitarian groups, rights experts, and progressive lawmakers have called on Western governments to end their support for Israel, which faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam's policy lead in the occupied Palestinian territory and Gaza, said Tuesday that "what is urgently needed is for all crossings to be opened to allow a full and proper humanitarian response that allows real access, with safe corridors and respect for international humanitarian law."
"A token convoy does not equal progress, only sustained, accountable access through every crossing will end the impunity that keeps aid from flowing," said Khalidi. "We must also see an end to the relentless bombing and attacks on Palestinian people, with an urgent and permanent cease-fire, alongside justice and accountability for all."
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