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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://mondoweiss.net/2025/06/aid-massacre-israeli-forces-kill-31-palestinians-at-u-s-run-aid-distribution-center/?ml_recipient=156096999931774153&ml_link=156096958989075810&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2025-06-02&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+RSS+Automation">mondoweiss.net</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Aid massacre: Israeli forces kill 31 Palestinians at U.S.-run aid distribution center</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Tareq S. Hajjaj</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">june 2, 2025</div>
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<img src="cid:ii_mbf7o82o0" alt="290525_Bureij_MS_1_0030-770x515.jpg" width="394" height="264"><br>
<font size="1">Gaza Humanitarian Foundation-run aid distribution point in al-Bureij,
central Gaza, May 29, 2025. (Photo: Moiz Salhi/APA Images)
</font><br><p>On Sunday morning at dawn, Palestinians from southern Gaza headed to
the aid distribution point in Rafah run by the Gaza Humanitarian Fund
(GHF), the U.S. contractor tasked with delivering aid to Palestinians
instead of the UN. Once thousands of aid-seekers arrived at the al-Alam
area of Rafah\u2019s Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, the Israeli army opened fire
on the crowds, according to eyewitnesses who spoke to <em>Mondoweiss</em>. </p>
<p>As throngs of people waited outside the aid site in the early morning
hours, waiting for the instructions of the American employees,
eyewitnesses described an Israeli quadcopter drone hovering overhead and
ordering them via loudspeaker to enter the fenced delivery site at 6:00
a.m.</p>
<p>After hundreds of people had entered, soldiers opened fire on the
crowd, killing 31 people and wounding 200 others with live ammunition,
Gaza\u2019s Ministry of Health said in a statement on Sunday.</p>
<p> \u201cEvery martyr who arrived at the hospital had sustained only one
gunshot wound to the head or chest,\u201d the Health Ministry said. \u201cThis
confirms the occupation\u2019s intent to kill civilians.\u201d</p>
<p>Director of Hospitals in Gaza, Muhammad Zaqout, said at a press
conference in front of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis that the injured
had arrived at the medical compound in animal-drawn carts or were
carried on people\u2019s shoulders due to the Israeli army\u2019s prevention of
ambulances from reaching the aid site.</p>
<p>The Israeli army <a href="https://x.com/IDF/status/1929205105242394756">denied</a> that any soldiers had fired at civilians in the center, regarding the allegations as \u201cfalse reports.\u201d The GHF <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-06-01/ty-article/gazans-report-over-20-dead-in-israeli-attack-near-aid-distribution-site-distributors-deny/00000197-2a51-da41-a9f7-3fd5db130000">also denied</a>
the reports as \u201ccompletely false and fabricated,\u201d publishing CCTV
footage of aid distribution in Rafah as apparent proof that the day had
gone on \u201cwithout incident.\u201d</p>
<p>Last week, <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2025/05/reports-of-killings-abductions-and-missing-persons-at-u-s-run-aid-center-in-gaza/">three people were killed</a>
at the GHF-run aid distribution point in al-Bureij, north of the
Netzarim Axis, and seven others were reported missing in the wake of the
chaos last week in the southern GHF site in Rafah. Today, June 2, the
Israeli army killed another 3 people at the al-Bureij GHF site.</p>
<h2><strong>\u2018The Americans and Israelis set a trap for us\u2019 </strong></h2>
<p>Ahmed Abu Libdeh, 28, arrived at the aid distribution center in Rafah
at 5:00 a.m. from eastern Khan Younis. Instead of receiving food, he
witnessed what he described as \u201cone of the most horrific massacres
perpetrated by the [Israeli] army\u201d at the Rafah center.</p>
<p>\u201cWe were standing outside the distribution point,\u201d Abu Libdeh told <em>Mondoweiss</em>.
\u201cAt around 6:00 a.m., a quadcopter flew overhead and announced over the
loudspeaker that the place was safe and we could enter to get the
food.\u201d</p>
<p>\u201cThe quadcopter loudspeaker said, \u2018walk, you\u2019re safe. We\u2019ll get the
aid out in a little while,\u2019\u201d Abu Libdeh added, stating that after the
aid had arrived, \u201cthey began bombing and killing us.\u201d </p>
<p>\u201cAs soon as we entered the distribution point and started carrying
the aid, the Israeli army opened fire,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe scene was
horrific. We couldn\u2019t see anything because of the dust and the shelling
and the heavy gunfire directed at us. Dozens of people were killed. And
the airstrikes also killed dozens of people.\u201d</p>
<p>Abu Libdeh noted that the first strike occurred at around 6:15, the
first bombing occurred, with a drone bombing a car full of people who
had received food and were leaving the area. \u201cAfter the car was bombed,
tanks opened fire on us,\u201d he described.</p>
<p>Ahmad said that the first few minutes were \u201ca shock to everyone,\u201d
explaining that they had entered the distribution site according to
Israeli army instructions. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know where the bombing was coming
from or from whom. Dust filled the area, and people were running without
knowing what was going on. People were falling in the stampede, and I
saw dozens lying on the ground, bleeding. They all died because no one
could save them.\u201d</p>
<p>\u201cThe Americans and Israelis set a huge trap for us to lure us here
and kill us by the dozens,\u201d Abu Libdeh concluded. \u201cWe don\u2019t want
America\u2019s help. We want to stop the war and stop the hunger.\u201d</p>
<p>The massacre on Sunday has led many Palestinians in Gaza to conclude
that the goal of the GHF is not to distribute food to the people but to
aid and abet the Israeli army\u2019s goal of \u201cexterminating\u201d Palestinians.</p>
<p>Arafat, 49, who preferred not to give his surname, is shown sitting
in Nasser Hospital with a small child in his lap in video testimony for <em>Mondoweiss</em>.
Both are crying, while Arafat lets out a sigh for his brother, who he
says was killed by the Israeli army in Rafah while on his way to secure
food for his family.</p>
<p>\u201cWhy do they tell us to go get food only to kill us when we get
there?\u201d Arafat says. \u201cThey are liars. They lie to us and the world. The
Americans are conspiring with the Israelis to kill us. They killed my
brother because he went to get food for his family.\u201d Arafat explains
that the child in his lap is his brother\u2019s son.</p>
<p>\u201cThey made a place for us to go and be killed in cold blood,\u201d Arafat
continued. \u201cThey shouldn\u2019t say this is a humanitarian area. It\u2019s a trip
and a massacre of starving people.\u201d</p>
<p>Arafat notes that some people had been queuing near the distribution
point since 11 p.m. the night before. \u201cThe result is that we\u2019re getting
death instead of food,\u201d he says. \u201cWe don\u2019t want America\u2019s help. We don\u2019t
want America\u2019s food. If America wants to help us, as it claims, let it
stop the war. We don\u2019t want anything more from it.\u201d</p>
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