Israeli occupation forces continue what many observers describe as one of the most egregious cases of mass killing in modern history, as civilians queuing for food aid in Gaza have become deliberate targets of attacks, with no protection or regard for humanitarian norms.
On Sunday, at least 12 Palestinian civilians were killed and others wounded as Israeli forces struck gatherings of people waiting for humanitarian aid in both northern and southern Gaza. Eyewitnesses and medical sources reported that 10 civilians were killed in an airstrike targeting aid recipients in the Al-Sudaniya area in northern Gaza, while two more were killed near the well-known “Al-Shakoush” distribution point north of Rafah.
These attacks occurred despite the clear identification of these locations as aid distribution sites, areas that are monitored and known to both aid agencies and the occupying forces. Nevertheless, the Israeli army continues to strike such gatherings, disregarding international humanitarian law, which prohibits the targeting of civilians and enshrines the right to humanitarian assistance.
Medical authorities in Gaza report that since the start of the assault in October 2023, approximately 891 people have been killed and more than 5,754 wounded while waiting for or collecting aid, the vast majority of them women and children. These individuals did not die in combat; they were killed while standing near food trucks, in bread lines, or at aid distribution points — as hunger itself becomes another battlefield.
Such attacks reflect a systematic policy that combines the deliberate denial of food with the direct targeting of civilians as they attempt to access life-saving aid, a grave violation of the principles of international humanitarian law, which forbids starvation as a method of warfare and protects civilians even in times of conflict.
In a parallel development, the Israeli army issued a new evacuation order on Sunday, calling for the immediate evacuation of large areas of Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza. The order affects multiple residential blocks, including makeshift camps housing displaced families, instructing residents to move southward to Al-Mawasi.
These forced evacuation orders offer no assurances of safe passage or adequate shelter, and cannot be considered measures to protect civilians. Rather, they are part of a wider policy aimed at displacing hundreds of thousands of residents under coercion, further compounding the humanitarian catastrophe.
Since 7 October 2023, the death toll in Gaza has reached at least 58,765 killed, with 140,485 wounded, figures that continue to rise by the hour. Hospitals and healthcare facilities are increasingly unable to cope, crippled by the blockade that prevents the entry of fuel, medical supplies, and even food.
The deliberate targeting of starving civilians reflects a military approach in which Gaza’s population is viewed as a legitimate target, with no distinction between combatants and civilians, between children and soldiers. This is part of a broader policy aimed at the destruction of an entire community, employing bombardment, siege, starvation, killing in bread lines, and mass displacement, while the international community largely remains silent — a silence that risks being interpreted as complicity.
