In a scene that encapsulates the ongoing tragedy in Gaza, hundreds of civilians have been killed and thousands injured over the past three weeks while attempting to reach food distribution centers.
According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, Israeli forces have killed 300 Palestinians and injured 2,649 others, with 9 still missing, since May 27, during their attempts to reach so-called “aid” distribution points.
These attacks occurred primarily in Rafah and Wadi Gaza, where civilians are being lured into what the office describes as “death traps” under the so-called American-Israeli mechanism—an aid distribution process taking place without the oversight of the United Nations or international humanitarian organizations.
Since the launch of this condemned mechanism, Israeli forces have used live ammunition against civilians, people carrying nothing but an empty stomach. At the same time, the operation is outwardly framed as humanitarian, on-the-ground practices reveal a deliberate strategy to exploit desperate hunger as a weapon of mass killing, baiting civilians into open killing zones disguised as aid points.
These developments unfold amid a total closure of Gaza’s border crossings by the occupation since March 2, blocking the entry of hundreds of humanitarian aid trucks stacked at the borders. Even Kerem Shalom crossing, controlled by Israeli forces east of Rafah, has been opened only to a very limited number of trucks. At the same time, Gaza needs at least 500 trucks per day just to meet minimal humanitarian needs.
Since October 7, 2023, the death and injury toll of Palestinians has surpassed 184,000, the majority being women and children, with more than 11,000 reported missing. Hundreds of thousands are living in dire conditions of displacement, and famine has claimed the lives of many children.
What is happening in Gaza amounts to genocide—a coordinated policy of mass killing, starvation, forced displacement, and systematic destruction of infrastructure and civilian services. This is taking place in blatant disregard for the International Court of Justice rulings and global calls to halt the war.
