‘It’s a Killing Field’:
Palestinians gather to receive aid supplies in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, June 25, 2025.
Conversations with officers and soldiers reveal that commanders ordered troops to shoot at crowds to drive them away or disperse them, even though it was clear they posed no threat.
One soldier described the situation as a total breakdown of the Israel Defense Forces’ ethical codes in Gaza.
According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, 549 people have been killed near aid centers and in areas where residents were waiting for UN food trucks since May 27. Over 4,000 have been wounded, but the exact number of those killed or injured by IDF fire remains unclear.
Haaretz has learned that the Military Advocate General has instructed the IDF General Staff’s Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism – a body tasked with reviewing incidents involving potential violations of the laws of war – to investigate suspected war crimes at these sites.
In a statement released following publication of this exposé, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz rejected the claims, which they called “blood libels.”
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid centers began operating in the Strip at the end of May. The circumstances of the foundation’s establishment and its funding are murky: it is known to have been set up by Israel in coordination with U.S. evangelicals and private security contractors. Its current CEO is an evangelical leader close to U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The GHF operates four food distribution sites – three in southern Gaza and one in the center – known in the IDF as “rapid distribution centers” (Mahpazim). They are staffed by American and Palestinian workers and secured by the IDF from a distance of several hundred meters.
Thousands, and at times tens of thousands, of Gazans arrive daily to collect food from these sites.
Contrary to the foundation’s initial promises, distribution is chaotic, with crowds rushing the piles of boxes. Since the rapid distribution centers opened, Haaretz has counted 19 shooting incidents near them. While the shooters’ identities are not always clear, the IDF does not permit armed individuals in these humanitarian zones without its knowledge.
The distribution centers typically open for just one hour each morning. According to officers and soldiers who served in their areas, the IDF fires at people who arrive before opening hours to prevent them from approaching, or again after the centers close, to disperse them. Since some of the shooting incidents occurred at night – ahead of the opening – it’s possible that some civilians couldn’t see the boundaries of the designated area.
“It’s a killing field,” one soldier said. “Where I was stationed, between one and five people were killed every day. They’re treated like a hostile force – no crowd-control measures, no tear gas – just live fire with everything imaginable: heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars. Then, once the center opens, the shooting stops, and they know they can approach. Our form of communication is gunfire.”