Footage of Gaza aid massacre refutes GHF, IOF claims of no casualties
6 Min Read
Footage and eyewitness accounts confirm IOF opened fire on civilians at a Gaza aid center in Rafah, debunking the US- and Israeli-backed foundation's allegations.
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A youth carries an empty box of relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private US-backed aid group that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory, as displaced Palestinians walk near a food distribution center in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on June 1, 2025. (AFP)
Widely circulated footage has documented harrowing moments as Israeli occupation forces opened live fire on thousands of Palestinian civilians gathered near an aid distribution center belonging to the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in western Rafah, southern Gaza, while they were trying to obtain food for their children and families.
The widely shared video captures heartbreaking and tragic scenes, with the lifeless bodies of victims lying motionless on the ground as the screams of the wounded and cries for help rose amid utter chaos.
Since May 27, the Israeli occupation has implemented what it describes as a "humanitarian aid distribution plan" in #Gaza through the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Relief Foundation, a body backed by "Israel" and the #UnitedStates, rejected by the United Nations, and operating… pic.twitter.com/pQ6sjJvRpk
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 1, 2025
Shouts of “Oh God, oh God” were heard alongside the sound of gunfire, painting a horrifying picture of mass killing and the suffering of civilians who had gone out in search of bread, only to return as martyrs or wounded.
According to reports, the civilians had nothing on them but hunger. Driven by desperation, they had lined up for hours since dawn in hopes of securing something to feed themselves and their children.
As soon as the gates of the aid center were opened, Israeli military vehicles unexpectedly unleashed a heavy barrage of live fire, directly targeting the upper bodies of the crowd.
Read more: 'Israel' enforcing starvation in Gaza amid aid blockade, UN warns
Every victim shot once in the head or chest
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the massacre resulted in the killing of more than 30 civilians and the injury of over 200 others, many of them in critical condition.
The ministry confirmed that every martyr who arrived at hospitals had been shot once in the head or chest, underscoring what it described as the occupation’s deliberate intent to carry out brutal executions against civilians.
The ministry also noted that hospitals are overwhelmed, facing severe shortages of surgical supplies, intensive care materials, and blood units.
'I’ve never seen anything like this': Gaza doctor on Rafah aid massacre
Corroborating the ministry's account of events, Dr. Ahmed Abu Sweid, an emergency physician currently working in Gaza, described the scene at Nasser Medical Complex following the Israeli attack on an aid distribution point in Rafah as “like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”
“We've only been here for a couple of days, and the amount of trauma that I've seen here is like nothing I've ever seen before," he pointed out.
"Today, we had a mass casualty event, hundreds of injured, already dozens, if not hundreds of confirmed casualties, deaths," Abu Sweid said.
Dr. Ahmed Abu Sweid, an emergency physician currently in #Gaza, described the scene at Nasser Medical Complex hospital following the Israeli attack on an aid distribution point in #Rafah as “like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 1, 2025
Speaking after the mass casualty event, he… pic.twitter.com/MRBXLDAH0L
He continued, "These are all civilian casualties [who] were asked to go to an aid center to collect food, and ended up presenting with gunshot wounds, shrapnel wounds."
The emergency physician highlighted that most of the cases were critical.
"Some of them arrived dead on arrival because of severe gunshot targeted gunshot wounds to the head and the thorax," he noted.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Abu Sweid concluded. “I don’t know what more there is to say.”
Gaza aid distribution has become 'a death trap'
The massacre took place in the al-Alam area of Rafah, where aid distribution points have turned into “death traps” for Gaza’s residents, according to one eyewitness who described the scene by saying, “The bread is soaked in blood,” a reference to the scale of the tragedy Palestinians in the besieged Strip are enduring.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, also said that Gaza "aid distribution has become a death trap," citing reports from medics on the ground of "mass casualties" among starving civilians on Sunday morning.
"Aid deliveries and distribution must be at scale and safe," Lazzarini said in a post on X.
"In Gaza, this can be done only through the United Nations including UNRWA."
#Gaza: aid distribution has become a death trap.
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) June 1, 2025
Mass casualties including scores of injured & killed among starving civilians due to gunshots this morning. This is according to reports from international medics on ground.
A distribution point by the Israeli- American plan was…
Read more: US-Israeli aid plan in Gaza used as tool for forced displacement: MSF
'Israel' turned aid centers into ambushes to open fire on Palestinians
Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Gaza confirmed that “the Israeli occupation has turned Gaza’s aid centers into ambushes to open fire on Palestinians,” reporting that occupation forces used loudspeakers to direct degrading messages at the crowd gathered outside the aid center, saying, “Hungry Gazan... go back to your home,” before opening direct fire on them.
GHF bluntly claims no Palestinians were shot
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation released video footage on Sunday claiming that no Palestinian civilians were shot during morning aid distribution in the southern Gaza Strip.
מצלמות האבטחה של החברה שאחראית על חלוקה המזון בעזה תיעדו את הרגעים בהם נטען לכאורה שבוצע ירי לעבר פלסטינים במתחם הסיוע. לפי התיעוד, לא נראה שבוצע ירי@ItayBlumental pic.twitter.com/HGLLrVRY4o
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) June 1, 2025
In an official statement, GHF said, “As noted in our daily report earlier, aid was distributed without incident. Reports of injuries and fatalities are completely false and fabricated.”
The foundation attached approximately 15 minutes of footage with no sound at all, filmed at the site shortly after dawn, showing what it described as a calm and orderly process.
AP eyewitnesses accounts refute GHF claims
Despite the GHF’s denial, reports from the scene painted a different picture. According to the Associated Press, eyewitnesses said the incident occurred before dawn, as large crowds marched toward the aid site, which refutes the US- and Israeli-backed foundation's allegations, as did the aforementioned widely circulated footage that documented the moment the occupation forces committed the massacre.
The witnesses reported that Israeli occupation forces had instructed the crowd to disperse and return later. However, when the group reached a roundabout about a kilometer from the distribution point at approximately 3:00 am, the Israeli troops opened fire.
An AP reporter who arrived at a nearby field hospital around 6:00 am documented dozens of wounded individuals, including women and children.
The reporter also noted that many people returning from the aid site were empty-handed, while only a few carried boxes of supplies.
