Video Health Officials say Dozens killed waiting for aid near Gaza distribution center
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Red Cross says at least 21 killed and dozens shot in Gaza aid incident
Red Cross says at least 21 killed and dozens shot in Gaza aid incident. But the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said findings from an initial inquiry showed its forces had not fired at people while they were near or within the aid centre. Hamas-run civil defence agency in Gaza said at least 31 people were killed and many more wounded in the incident, which it blamed on “Israeli gunfire” targeting civilians. The International Committee of the Red Cross said 21 people were “declared dead upon arrival” while women and children were among 179 cases. The ICRC said it was the “highest number of weapon-wounded in a single incident since the establishment of the field hospital over a year ago” It is unclear if the number of people killed reported by the ICRC is separate to the Hamas health ministry’s reports. The BBC has examined footage of bodies being carried on carts and in the back of lorries to Nasser Hospital.
But the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said findings from an initial inquiry showed its forces had not fired at people while they were near or within the aid centre.
The organisation’s statement came after the Hamas-run civil defence agency in Gaza said at least 31 people were killed and many more wounded in the incident, which it blamed on “Israeli gunfire” targeting civilians.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said 21 people were “declared dead upon arrival” while women and children were among 179 cases.
A “mass casualty influx” of people, many with gunshot or shrapnel wounds, was received at a Red Cross field hospital in southern Gaza, the organisation said, following disputed reports about an incident near an aid distribution centre in Rafah.
The IDF also released drone footage it said showed armed and masked men throwing stones and shooting at civilians while they were collecting aid in the nearby city of Khan Younis. The BBC could not immediately verify the footage.
Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza, making verifying what is happening in the territory difficult.
The group that runs the aid distribution centre, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), also denied the claims of injuries and casualties at its site and said they had been spread by Hamas.
As of Sunday evening, the situation on the ground remained unclear.
In its statement, the ICRC said the “Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah received a mass casualty influx of 179 cases, including women and children” early in the morning on Sunday.
It said “the majority suffered gunshot or shrapnel wounds”, and “twenty-one patients were declared dead upon arrival”. It is unclear if the number of people killed reported by the ICRC is separate to the Hamas health ministry’s reports.
“All patients said they had been trying to reach an aid distribution site,” the ICRC said.
The ICRC said it was the “highest number of weapon-wounded in a single incident since the establishment of the field hospital over a year ago”, and that it “far surpassed” the capacity of the 60-bed facility.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said in a statement that it had also responded to the “mass casualty” incident, and that the blood bank at Nasser hospital, where the injured were treated, was almost empty, with medical staff donating blood themselves to help the injured.
Claire Manera, the organisation’s emergency co-ordinator, said that the incident had “shown once again that this new system of aid delivery is dehumanising, dangerous and severely ineffective”.
The IDF said in a statement: “In recent hours, false reports have been spread, including serious allegations against the IDF regarding fire toward Gazan residents in the area of the humanitarian aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip.
“Findings from an initial inquiry indicate that the IDF did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site and that reports to this effect are false,” it added.
MSF said at least two patients told them they and others had been shot while trying to get aid. MSF communications officer Nour Alsaqa said in a statement that as MSF staff were treating patients, they also “received confirmation that a colleague’s brother had been killed while attempting to collect aid from the centre”.
Another incident was said to have happened near a separate aid centre in the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, with the Palestinian Red Crescent reporting 14 injured.
The BBC was contacted by doctors at the Nasser hospital who said they had received about 200 people with injuries caused by bullets or shrapnel.
Local journalists and activists shared footage of bodies and wounded people being transported on donkey carts to the Red Cross field hospital in the al-Mawasi area.
The BBC has examined footage of bodies being carried on carts and in the back of lorries to Nasser Hospital.
Gaza’s health ministry said more than 200 cases had arrived at hospitals, including 31 dead.
Seventy-nine of the injured were brought to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, according to the emergency department, medical staff from British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians reported.
Those killed and injured “were primarily struck by live gunfire, with many victims sustaining direct shots to the head or chest”, the charity’s staff said.
Gaza ministry says Israel kills more than 30 aid seekers, Israel denies
More than 30 Palestinians were killed and nearly 170 injured on Sunday in south Gaza near a food distribution site, the health ministry said. Witnesses reported Israeli soldiers fired on people trying to collect aid and Israel denied it. Israel’s military said that an initial inquiry found soldiers had not fired on civilians while they were near or within the distribution site. The U.S.-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said food was handed out without incident on Sunday at the distribution point in Rafah and there were no deaths or injuries. Hamas-run Gaza government media office accused Israel of using aid as a weapon, “employed to exploit starving civilians and forcibly gather them at exposed killing zones”, it said. The United Nations has said most of Gaza’s 2 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade on aid entering the strip. The ICRC said its field hospital in Rafa received 179 casualties, most with gunshot or shrapnel wounds. The Gaza Human humanitarian Foundation launched its first distribution sites last week and said it would launch more. The Israeli military has said GHF had established four sites so far.
Companies Conflicting reports over what happened
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says no casualties, aid distribution was normal
Witnesses say Israel fired at people gathering at Rafah aid distribution site
Israeli military denies forces fired at civilians at or near site
Hamas says it is ready for new indirect talks
CAIRO/GAZA June 1 (Reuters) – More than 30 Palestinians were killed and nearly 170 injured on Sunday in south Gaza near a food distribution site, the health ministry said, as witnesses reported Israeli soldiers fired on people trying to collect aid and Israel denied it.
The U.S.-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said food was handed out without incident on Sunday at the distribution point in Rafah and there were no deaths or injuries.
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GHF released undated video to support its statement that showed dozens of people gathering around piles of boxes. Reuters could not independently verify the video or what took place.
Witnesses said the Israeli military opened fire as thousands of Palestinians gathered to receive food aid. Israel’s military said that an initial inquiry found soldiers had not fired on civilians while they were near or within the distribution site.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry said 31 people were killed with a single gunshot wound to the head or chest from Israeli fire as they were gathered in the Al-Alam district aid distribution area in Rafah. It said 169 were injured.
In addition to Israeli gunshots, residents and medics said an Israeli tank had opened fire at thousands of people en route to the Rafah site.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah received 179 casualties, most with gunshot or shrapnel wounds.
“All patients said they had been trying to reach an aid distribution site. This is the highest number of weapon-wounded in a single incident since the establishment of the field hospital over a year ago,” ICRC said.
The United Nations has said most of Gaza’s 2 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade on aid entering the strip.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation launched its first distribution sites last week and said it would launch more. The Israeli military has said GHF had established four sites so far.
The organization’s aid plan, which bypasses traditional aid groups, has come under fierce criticism from the United Nations and humanitarian organizations which say GHF does not follow humanitarian principles.
There were chaotic scenes as hungry Gazans rushed its sites last last week. Hamas reported deaths and injuries in the tumult, and Israel said its troops fired warning shots.
Because the GHF distribution points are few and all in south Gaza, U.N. officials have said its plans force Palestinians, especially in the north, to relocate and face unsafe conditions.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN’s Palestinian relief agency, condemned Sunday’s deaths and said in a statement on X that “aid distribution has become a death trap”.
Item 1 of 10 A Palestinian, wounded in an Israeli strike, receives treatment in the Intensive Care Unit at Nasser Hospital, according to ministry of health, following an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 1, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled [1/10] A Palestinian, wounded in an Israeli strike, receives treatment in the Intensive Care Unit at Nasser Hospital, according to ministry of health, following an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 1, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office accused Israel of using aid as a weapon, “employed to exploit starving civilians and forcibly gather them at exposed killing zones, which are managed and monitored by the Israeli military”.
At Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis city where some casualties were brought, Gaza paramedic Abu Tareq said there was “a tragic situation in this place. I advise them that nobody goes to aid delivery points.”
Israel denies that people in Gaza are starving because of its actions, saying it is facilitating aid deliveries and pointing to its endorsement of the new GHF distribution centres and its consent for other aid trucks to enter Gaza.
U.S. President Donald Trump said last month that a lot of people in Gaza were ” starving “.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing supplies intended for civilians and using them to entrench its hold on Gaza. Hamas denies looting supplies and has executed a number of suspected looters.
Reda Abu Jazar said her brother was killed as he waited to collect food near the Rafah aid distribution centre. “Let them stop these massacres, stop this genocide. They are killing us,” she said, as Palestinian men gathered for funeral prayers.
The Red Crescent reported that 14 Palestinians were injured on Sunday near a separate GHF aid site in central Gaza.
CEASEFIRE TALKS FALTER
Israel and Hamas meanwhile traded blame for the faltering of a new Arab and U.S. mediation bid to secure a temporary ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli jails.
Hamas said on Saturday it was seeking amendments to a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal, but Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff rejected the group’s response as “totally unacceptable”.
Egypt and Qatar said in a joint statement that they are continuing efforts to overcome disagreements and reach a ceasefire.
Hamas on Sunday welcomed those efforts and expressed its readiness to start a round of indirect negotiations immediately to reach an agreement, the group said on Sunday in a statement.
Israel began its offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli tallies, and saw 251 taken as hostages into Gaza.
Israel’s campaign has devastated much of Gaza, killing more than 54,000 Palestinians and destroying most buildings. Much of the population now lives in shelters in makeshift camps.
Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Ali Sawafta and Jaidaa Taha; Additional reporting by Hatem Khaled in Gaza; Editing by Frances Kerry, David Holmes and Cynthia Osterman
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Dozens killed and scores injured in shooting near aid point in Gaza
Witnesses say Israeli forces fired on crowds around 1,000 meters from an aid site run by an Israeli-backed organisation. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) issued a statement calling the reports “false” and referring to them as “serious allegations against the IDF” The Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said in a statement that it delivered aid “without incident” early Sunday. UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to work with the foundation, saying that it violates humanitarian principles because it allows Israel to control who receives aid and forces people to relocate to distribution sites, causing mass displacement in the enclave.Experts have warned that the territory is at risk of famine if more aid is not brought in.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) issued a statement calling the reports “false” and referring to them as “serious allegations against the IDF regarding fire towards Gazan residents in the area of the humanitarian aid distribution site in Gaza.”
It later also posted a video on social media platform X, which it claimed showed “gunmen in Gaza shooting at civilians going to collect aid”, adding that “Hamas is doing everything in its power to prevent the successful distribution of food in Gaza.”
The Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been distributing aid in Gaza, said in a statement that it delivered aid “without incident” early Sunday and has denied previous accounts of chaos and gunfire around its sites, which are in Israeli military zones where independent access is limited.
New aid system marred by chaos
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s distribution of aid has been marred by chaos, and multiple witnesses have said Israeli troops fired on crowds near the delivery sites. Before Sunday, at least six people had been killed and more than 50 wounded according to local health officials.
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UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to work with the foundation, saying that it violates humanitarian principles because it allows Israel to control who receives aid and forces people to relocate to distribution sites, causing additional mass displacement in the enclave.
Experts have warned that the territory is at risk of famine if more aid is not brought in.
Israel and the United States say the new system is aimed at preventing Hamas from siphoning off assistance. Israel has not provided any evidence of systematic diversion, and the UN denies it has occurred.
Shooting broke out near distribution hub
The gunfire on Sunday erupted at a roundabout around a kilometre from the distribution site, in an area that is controlled by Israeli forces, witnesses said.
Ibrahim Abu Saoud, an eyewitness, said Israeli forces opened fire at people moving toward the aid distribution centre.
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“There were many martyrs, including women,” the 40-year-old resident said. “We were about 300 meters (yards) away from the military.”
Abu Saoud said he saw many people with gunshot wounds, including a young man who he said had died at the scene. “We weren’t able to help him,” he said.
Mohammed Abu Teaima, 33, said he saw Israeli forces open fire and kill his cousin and another woman as they were heading to the hub. He said his cousin was shot in his chest and died at the scene. Many others were wounded, including his brother-in-law, he said.
“They opened heavy fire directly toward us,” he said as he was waiting outside the Red Cross field hospital for word on his wounded relative.
Deadly Gaza attack sparks conflicting reports from eyewitnesses, IDF and controversial aid group
Witnesses describe chaotic scenes of gunfire at the aid distribution center near Rafah. One individual said he saw a tank firing at the crowd. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began distributing aid in the enclave last week. The foundation said that it delivered 16 trucks of food “without incident,” and denied reports of “deaths, mass injuries and chaos” at its distribution sites. The Israeli military on Sunday denied allegations that it fired on civilians at an aid distribution site based on what it called an initial inquiry.”We haven’t eaten bread for a long time,” says a woman mourning the loss of a relative killed while trying to collect aid. “He was going to get a living for his children, and they killed him,” a man says of his brother, who was killed while collecting aid for his kids at a collection point. “They were shooting at everyone who came,” says one man. “It was hell” says a man who was waiting for aid at 4 a.m.
The reports were vigorously denied by the organization charged with distributing aid.
Witnesses who spoke to NBC News described chaotic scenes of gunfire at the aid distribution center near Rafah, with one individual who said he saw a tank firing at the crowd. Witnesses who spoke to The Associated Press said Israeli forces had earlier fired on the crowds around 1,000 yards from the aid site.
Mohammed Zaqout, Gaza hospitals director, said at least 31 people were killed in the strike, adding that more than 200 wounded had arrived at Nasser Hospital, 30 of whom were in critical condition.
“Their injuries are direct gunshot to the head, to the chest, to the abdomen,” he added. Israeli officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Zaqout’s description of the dead and wounded.
‘It was hell’
Video taken by an NBC News team on the ground showed a truck arriving at Nasser Hospital with the bodies of several wounded men lying in the back, as bystanders lifted them onto stretchers and rushed them inside, laying them beside other bloodied bodies strewn across the floor.
The bombing began with airstrikes, followed by tank fire, according to 28-year-old Ahmad Abu Labdeh.
“They told us to come and collect aid, and when we gathered, they opened fire on us,” he said. “It was hell.”
Mahdi Maher Mohammad Brais said he was waiting for aid at 4 a.m. when the shooting began.
“They were shooting at everyone who came,” he said. “They were only going to get food to eat.”
Arafat Siam, 43, said his brother was killed while attempting to collect aid for his children, accusing authorities of luring civilians to aid distribution sites only to target them with violence.
“He was going to get a living for his children, and they killed him,” Siam said. “He is not with Hamas or anyone else.”
Wafaa al-Siyoum, mourning for the loss of a relative killed while trying to collect aid, decried the dire conditions of her family.
“We haven’t eaten bread for a long time,” she told NBC News. “And when he went to get it, they shot at him before he reached the aid point.”
NBC News journalists at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said they saw at least 50 of the wounded enter the facility.
The Palestine Red Crescent said it had transported “23 fatalities and 23 injured individuals” from the aid distribution point in Rafah.
Palestinian rescuers evacuate injured people after an Israeli drone reportedly opened fire on civilian gatherings near an aid distribution point not far from the so-called Netzarim checkpoint in Gaza on Sunday. Eyad Baba / AFP – Getty Images
The Israeli military on Sunday denied allegations that it fired on civilians at the aid distribution site based on what it called an initial inquiry.
Aid distribution chaos
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which began distributing aid in the enclave last week as part of a new U.S.- and Israel-backed plan, said that it delivered 16 trucks of food “without incident,” and denied reports of “deaths, mass injuries and chaos” at its distribution sites.
GHF later shared hours of CCTV video appearing to show crowds of Palestinians peacefully collecting aid from one of its distribution centers. It was not immediately clear when and where the video was taken.
“As noted in our daily report earlier, aid was distributed without incident,” the organization said in a statement accompanying the video. “Reports of injuries and fatalities are completely false and fabricated. Please do not be duped by them.”
GHF was tasked with distributing aid in Gaza after Israel earlier this month lifted an almost three-month blockade barring the entry of food, medicine and other vital supplies following warnings of rising starvation in the enclave.
But its first week in operation has been marred by controversy and chaos.
Last week, thousands of hungry Palestinians flooded one of its distribution centers and Israeli soldiers fired live rounds into the air to disperse crowds.
GHF rejected statements by Gaza’s Hamas-run government media office that three Palestinians were killed, 46 others injured and seven people were missing after the incident. The foundation said that no one was killed while trying to access its distribution site.
GHF’s former executive director, Jake Wood, also quit the organization ahead of its operations in Gaza, saying it was impossible to implement the plan while also adhering to the “humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence,” according to a statement published by Reuters.
The United Nations, which has refused to participate in the plan, has condemned the GHF initiative as a “distraction” that undermines a long-standing humanitarian framework in Gaza. The U.N. says the effort poses a threat to the independence of aid operations, while simultaneously displacing Palestinians en masse to Gaza’s south.
Israel has maintained that a new aid distribution system was necessary, alleging that Hamas was diverting supplies. The United Nations and other humanitarian groups have said they have not seen evidence that the group was siphoning off aid meant to go to civilians.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks, in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage, marking a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict.
Since then, more than 54,000 people, including thousands of children, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the enclave, which has been run by Hamas since 2007.
Over 30 Killed Near Aid Site in Gaza, Palestinian Health Authorities Say
More than 30 Palestinians were killed and dozens more injured on Sunday in southern Gaza near a humanitarian aid distribution site run by a US company. Witnesses said the Israeli military had opened fire as Palestinians gathered to collect food. The military denied it had fired towards civilians and the US company running the facility said it had distributed aid without incident. A series of incidents have underscored the insecurity around aid delivery to Gaza, following the easing of an almost three-month Israeli blockade last month. Israel and Hamas traded blame for the faltering of a new Arab and US mediation bid to secure a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza by Hamas. The Israeli military confirmed it conducted an air strike on Khan Younis that day, but said it was targeting a structure that was close to a soldiers’ base. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said paramedics had recovered the bodies of 23 Palestinians and evacuated another 23 injured people from the aid collection site area in Rafah. Israel accuses Hamas of stealing supplies intended for civilians and using them to entrench its hold on Gaza.
Witnesses said the Israeli military had opened fire as Palestinians gathered to collect food. The military denied it had fired towards civilians and the US company running the facility said it had distributed aid without incident.
Reuters could not independently verify what took place.
The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, wrote on X that international medics in Gaza had reported there were “mass casualties including scores of injured & killed among starving civilians due to gunshots”.
A series of incidents have underscored the insecurity around aid delivery to Gaza, following the easing of an almost three-month Israeli blockade last month.
“There are martyrs and injuries. Many injuries. It is a tragic situation in this place. I advise them that nobody goes to aid delivery points. Enough,” paramedic Abu Tareq said at Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis city.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said paramedics had recovered the bodies of 23 Palestinians and evacuated another 23 injured people from the aid collection site area in Rafah.
Local health authorities said at least 31 bodies had so far arrived at Nasser Hospital.
The US-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates the aid distribution site in Rafah, denied anyone was killed or injured near its site and said that all of its distribution had taken place without incident. It accused Palestinian group Hamas of fabricating “fake reports”.
The entity released undated footage, which it said showed that aid was distributed at one site without incident. Reuters could not independently verify the footage, which appeared to show dozens of people gathering around piles of boxes.
INITIAL INQUIRY
Israel’s military said in a statement that findings from an initial inquiry indicated soldiers had not fired on civilians while they were near or within the aid distribution site.
GHF is a US-based entity backed by the US and Israeli governments that began providing aid in Gaza last month, bypassing traditional aid groups.
The group has been widely criticized by the international community, with UN officials saying its aid plans would only foment forced relocation of Palestinians in Gaza and more violence.
Residents and medics said Israeli soldiers fired from the ground at a crane nearby that overlooks the area, and a tank had opened fire at thousands of people who were en route to get aid from the site in Rafah. Reuters footage showed ambulance vehicles carrying injured people to Nasser Hospital.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office accused Israel of using aid as a weapon, “employed to exploit starving civilians and forcibly gather them at exposed killing zones, which are managed and monitored by the Israeli military”.
Israel denies that people in Gaza are starving because of its actions, saying it is facilitating aid deliveries and pointing to its endorsement of the new GHF distribution centers and its consent for other aid trucks to enter Gaza.
US President Donald Trump said last month that a lot of people in Gaza were “starving”.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing supplies intended for civilians and using them to entrench its hold on Gaza. Hamas denies looting supplies and has executed a number of suspected looters.
Reda Abu Jazar said her brother was killed as he waited to collect food near the Rafah aid distribution center. “Let them stop these massacres, stop this genocide. They are killing us,” she said, as Palestinian men gathered for funeral prayers.
UNRWA’s Lazzarini, condemned the deaths, saying in a statement on X that “aid distribution has become a death trap”. He said aid distribution should be “only through the United Nations, including UNRWA”.
The Red Crescent also reported that 14 Palestinians were injured on Sunday near a separate site in central Gaza, also operated by GHF.
CEASEFIRE TALKS FALTER
Israel and Hamas meanwhile traded blame for the faltering of a new Arab and US mediation bid to secure a temporary ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli jails.
Hamas said on Saturday it was seeking amendments to a US-backed ceasefire proposal, but President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff rejected the group’s response as “totally unacceptable”.
Egypt and Qatar said they are continuing efforts to converge views and overcome disagreements to reach a ceasefire.
Dozens of Palestinians marched on Sunday at the funeral of a Gaza doctor, Hamdi Al-Najjar, who was critically injured in late May in an airstrike that killed all but one of his 10 children. Najjar died late on Saturday.
The Israeli military has confirmed it conducted an air strike on Khan Younis that day, but said it was targeting suspects in a structure that was close to Israeli soldiers.
The military is looking into claims that “uninvolved civilians” were killed, it said, adding that the military had evacuated civilians from the area before the operation began.
Israel began its offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli tallies, and saw 251 taken as hostages into Gaza.
Israel’s campaign has devastated much of Gaza, killing more than 54,000 Palestinians and destroying most buildings. Much of the population now lives in shelters in makeshift camps.