Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Political aide to the governor of Gilan Province in northern Iran: Air defenses in Rasht shot down a small hostile drone flying over the city
Israeli media: The presence of General Qaani at the “victory celebrations” in Tehran puts an end to the rumors and earlier reports claiming he had been assassinated
Israeli media: There is division within the US administration itself over the extent of what the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities actually achieved
Israeli media: US intelligence also says Iran’s centrifuges remained largely intact
Israeli media: Netanyahu and Trump celebrated too soon, as US intelligence says Iran’s uranium stockpile was not damaged
Israeli Channel 13: The objectives set by Netanyahu for the operation against Iran have not been achieved
Early US intel assessment suggests strikes on Iran did not destroy nuclear sites, CNN reports, citing sources
Israeli media platform: An additional soldier has been confirmed killed in the serious incident in Gaza, who had previously been considered "missing" for some time
Pezeshkian: History will not forget how Iran’s enemies broke their pledges and agreements, resorting to aggression and invasion even during negotiations
Israeli media: Between 14 and 16 soldiers were injured in the incident, which reportedly involved two separate units at the brigade and division level

Footage of Gaza aid massacre refutes GHF, IOF claims of no casualties

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Al Mayadeen + Agencies
  • 1 Jun 2025 21:13
  • 6 Shares
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.

Listen
  • x
  • Footage of Gaza aid massacre refutes GHF, IOF claims of no casualties
    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.”

Speaking after the mass casualty event, he… pic.twitter.com/MRBXLDAH0L

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 1, 2025

Related News

Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza, eyewitnesses report executions

'Israel' kills 94 Palestinians, including 60 aid seekers, in Gaza

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.
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…

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) June 1, 2025

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.

  • Gaza Strip
  • GHF
  • Palestine
  • Israeli aggression
  • IOF
  • Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
  • Israel
  • Gaza genocide
  • Israeli occupation
  • Gaza

Most Read

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends a protest following the US attacks on nuclear sites in Iran, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP)

Iran declares victory as ceasefire forces Israeli retreat

  • Politics
  • 24 Jun 2025
Israeli workers survey the site where a missile launched from Iran struck in Haifa on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP)

True Promise 3, wave 20: 40 missiles launched, Kheibar-Shekan in first

  • Politics
  • 22 Jun 2025
Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025 (AP)

Wave 12 of Operation True Promise 3 launched, Sejjil deployed: IRGC

  • Politics
  • 18 Jun 2025
Iran launches strikes on Israeli targets, despite alleged ceasefire

Iran victorious as ceasefire with 'Israel' takes effect

  • Politics
  • 24 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
'Israel's' medical supply ban to Gaza threatens newborns' lives
Health

Gaza's newborns at risk as 'Israel' blocks baby formula, supplies

Tehran
MENA

Thousands rally in Tehran in support of Iranian Armed Forces

FT
Palestine

UK’s Co-op halts sales of Israeli carrots over rights violations

Israeli security forces inspect the site struck by an Iranian missile strike that killed several people, in Beer al-Sabe', Occupied Palestine, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

In numbers: Iran's True Promise 3 devastates 'Israel' in 12 days

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS