Before sunrise in southern Gaza, hundreds of people gathered near food distribution points in Rafah, hoping for a chance at basic survival. Many had gone days without enough to eat. But what was meant to be a lifeline turned into a nightmare.
As crowds waited near two newly-established aid centers, run with support from Israel and the United States, Israeli troops opened fire. By the time the gunfire stopped, at least eight Palestinians lay dead, and dozens more were wounded.
The victims were not militants or fighters. They were fathers, mothers, and young people hoping to bring food home. Some had arrived as early as 4:30 in the morning.
“They Were Just Trying to Eat”
“I saw people collapsing,” said Umm Hosni al-Najjar, a local woman who had arrived early to find food. “There were wounded, dead, martyrs on the ground. No one could help. We couldn’t even carry them away.”
Ahmed al-Masri, another witness, described running in fear. “We came looking for food. They said there would be aid. But it was a trap.”
Their stories echo many others across Gaza, where desperation is rising. Since early June, more than 270 people have reportedly been killed and over 2,000 injured in or around aid sites. Most of them were unarmed civilians.
New Aid System Under Fire
The aid sites where the shooting happened are part of a new humanitarian system set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The system is supported by the Israeli government and the United States. It was designed to bypass traditional aid agencies like the United Nations, which Israel has accused of allowing aid to reach Hamas.
But the new system is drawing heavy criticism from both inside and outside Gaza.
The United Nations says it lacks proper safeguards and fails to protect civilians. “Aid delivery must never come at the cost of lives,” a UN spokesperson said recently. “The world cannot accept a system that turns food lines into danger zones.”
A Growing Pattern of Violence
This is not an isolated incident. In fact, shootings near food distribution points have become tragically common. Aid workers and local officials say violence often erupts just as people start lining up — especially in places like Rafah, where Israel’s military presence is stronger.
Hospitals in the area are overwhelmed. Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis received the bodies of eight people from the latest attack, along with a stream of wounded civilians.
“These aren’t battlefields. These are aid lines,” said a nurse working in the emergency unit. “We’ve never seen anything like this.”
Humanitarian Crisis Deepens
The situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate. With food production nearly destroyed by months of war and siege, nearly every family is relying on aid to survive. And yet, even seeking help has become dangerous.
International aid groups warn that hunger and displacement are reaching unprecedented levels. Families are fleeing once-safe areas, and food insecurity is worsening by the day.
Human rights organizations are urging Israel, the U.S., and humanitarian bodies to reexamine the current aid model, saying it is putting too many lives at risk.
What’s Next?
There’s growing pressure on the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to rethink how aid is distributed — especially when safety can’t be guaranteed. Calls for independent investigations into the shootings are increasing, and international diplomats are quietly discussing whether changes are needed in how food gets to people in Gaza.
For the families lining up each morning, though, those conversations offer little comfort.
“We came for bread,” said one survivor quietly. “We found bullets.”
