Israel Hamas authority: 27 dead in shelling near distribution center
According to Palestinian reports, Israeli soldiers have once again shot many people near a distribution center for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
03.06.2025, 18:48
SDA
At least 27 Palestinians were killed near the southern city of Rafah and around 90 others were injured, according to the health authority controlled by the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas.
Israel's army said in the morning that soldiers had identified suspects about half a kilometer from the distribution point who had approached them and posed a threat to them. They had deviated from the designated routes to the aid center, while at the same time a large crowd of people had moved along the regular routes. Soldiers initially fired warning shots. However, as the suspects had not retreated, the forces had also fired at individual suspects.
The Israeli army is aware of reports of casualties, it added. The details of the incident were being investigated. The army did not prevent civilians from reaching the distribution centers, the army stressed.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported attacks on the crowd, including artillery fire and fighter jets, citing eyewitnesses.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which distributes meals through the centers, said that the aid distribution in Rafah itself was "safe and without incident". It said it was aware that Israel's army was investigating whether people had been injured who had left the designated security corridor and entered a restricted military area. "This was an area far outside our secure distribution point and area of operation," it said in a statement.
None of the information can currently be independently verified.
A video circulating on social and Palestinian media is said to show the bodies of several young men and injured people in a clinic. The authenticity of the footage could not initially be verified.
In Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called for a prompt and impartial investigation into the incidents. "Attacks targeting civilians are a serious violation of international law and a war crime," Türk said.
The United Nations accuses Israel of obstructing humanitarian aid. They reject the use of the controversial new GHF foundation. Türk spoke of "Israel's militarized humanitarian aid mechanism", which endangers human lives.
The foundation does not answer questions about who finances it and where the money for the food parcels comes from. The few GHF distribution centers are guarded by armed security forces. People in need are forced to walk for miles to reach them.
