At least 220 Palestinians were killed or injured on Sunday, June 1, after Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) opened fire on crowds of starving people at aid distribution centers operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah.
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor quoted eyewitnesses saying that the gunfire was launched by Israeli quadcopters and tanks while US security forces fired tear gas to disperse people at the site, lowering their chances of escaping unharmed.
The Switzerland-based organization accused Israel of intentionally “placing distribution centers in dangerous areas”, where “limited aid” is being delivered, which in turn ”suggests a deliberate policy to sow chaos and incite conflict among a population that has been starved for three months.”
Meanwhile, injured Palestinians, who miraculously survived the massacre and were transported to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, told Doctors Without Borders (MSF) that they were surrounded by gunfire from all sides, which was launched from drones, boats, tanks and IOF soldiers on the ground.
MSF emergency coordinator, Claire Manera, condemned the aid distribution mechanism implemented by the GHF, calling it “dehumanizing, dangerous and severely ineffective.” Manera emphasized that “humanitarian aid must be provided only by humanitarian organizations who have the competence and determination to do it safely and effectively.”
For his part, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the “Near East” (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, commented on the massacre in a post on X Sunday, describing the aid distribution center as a “death trap” and the distribution mechanism in place as a “humiliating system”.
“Gaza: aid distribution has become a death trap. Mass casualties including scores of injured and killed among starving civilians due to gunshots this morning. This is according to reports from international medics on ground,” Lazzarini stated.
“A distribution point by the Israeli- American plan was put far south in Rafah. This humiliating system has forced thousands of hungry and desperate people to walk for tens of miles to an area that’s all but pulverized due to heavy bombardment by the Israeli Army,” he added.
The head of UNRWA further stressed that “aid deliveries and distribution must be at scale and safe,” reiterating that “in Gaza, this can be done only through the United Nations including UNRWA.”
Israel commits its second aid-distribution massacre in less than a week
Sunday’s massacre was not the first to be perpetrated in GHF-run distribution centers in Rafah. Tuesday, May 27 saw the first lethal attack in which the IOF shot dead a number of Palestinians at one of these centers.
The mass killing happened when tens of thousands of desperate Palestinians arrived to receive food and supplies for the first time, following Israel’s three-month total blockade on entry of humanitarian aid into the war-torn enclave.
US-Israeli aid distribution centers in Gaza are reminiscent of “Nazi ghettos and concentration camps”
The US-Israeli brutality was not limited to killing starved Palestinians. It also extended to systematically degrading them.
Appalling footage surfaced online, showing hungry Palestinians cordoned off inside metal cages surrounded by barbed wire, which some international media outlets said are reminiscent of “Nazi ghettos and concentration camps for Jews in Eastern Europe”.
Fingers are pointing at Witkoff after Sunday’s massacre
The US is considered by many to be Israel’s number one partner and sponsor in the ongoing genocidal aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza strip, since it started in October 2023.
Senior US officials involved in Gaza ceasefire negotiations – both in the Biden administration and the current Trump administration – have been under fire due to their policies and decisions, which have prioritized the interests of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in perpetuating the heinous war over ending the bloodshed of Palestinian civilians.
Palestinians held US envoy to the “Middle East”, Steve Witkoff, responsible for Sunday’s massacre after he swiftly rejected Hamas’s response to his latest ceasefire proposal Saturday, May 31.
Critics believe that Witkoff’s rejection gave Israel the green light to escalate its military operations in Gaza.
Witkoff’s proposal offered “no guarantees to end the war”: says Hamas
In its response to Witkoff’s proposal, Hamas offered to release 10 living Israeli captives and the bodies of 18 deceased. In exchange, a number of Palestinian prisoners would be agreed upon for release, provided that US President Donald Trump guarantees Israel’s commitment to a 60-day ceasefire and the flow of humanitarian aid to the besieged strip.
It is worth noting that 58 Israeli captives are currently held in Gaza, 34 of whom are deceased, according to Israeli sources. The Palestinian resistance movement has become more aware that keeping as many Israeli individuals as possible in its captivity is the strongest negotiating chip toward guaranteeing that a ceasefire deal will not be breached again, especially after Netanyahu’s government violated the previous truce – with unwavering US support – last March.
Witkoff described Hamas’ response as “totally unacceptable”, saying that the Palestinian resistance movement “should accept the framework proposal” that he put forward “as the basis for proximity talks”.
Witkoff’s proposal stipulated the release of half of the living captives and half of the deceased to seal a 60-day ceasefire deal, upon which “substantive negotiations in good-faith” would be held as part of the proximity talks for reaching a possible “permanent ceasefire”.
Commenting on Witkoff’s rejection, senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the proposal put forward by the US envoy offered “no guarantees to end the war”.
Naim clarified that Hamas still “responded positively” to the latest proposal relayed to it by Witkoff, although it was different to the one it had agreed upon with him a week earlier.
“One week ago, we agreed with Mr. Witkoff on one proposal, and we said, ‘This is acceptable, we can consider this a negotiating paper,’” the Palestinian official said. “He went to the other party, to the Israelis, to get their response. Instead of having a response to our proposal, he brought us a new proposal, which had nothing to do with what we agreed upon,” he added.
