Testimonies: IDF responsible for lethal shootings near US-led aid site in Gaza
Palestinians carry supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the southern Gaza Strip, late May 2025
Sheren Falah Saab, Jack Khoury, Nagham Zbeedat, Nir Hasson and Liza Rozovsky report in Haaretz on 5 June 2025:
Testimonies from Gazan civilians, video footage and inconsistencies in the IDF’s official statements strengthen claims that the shooting, which killed dozens near the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution center this past week, was carried out by Israeli soldiers – not Palestinian militants, as Israeli officials initially claimed.
According to the testimonies, the shootings occurred roughly one kilometer from the aid center in Rafah, and Israeli drones and armored vehicles were present in the area at the time. These accounts are supported by testimonies from Palestinian and foreign medical teams at hospitals in southern Gaza, which received dozens of gunshot victims, both dead and wounded.
On Wednesday, the Israeli army built earth mounds around the aid distribution centers to prevent further friction between troops and local Palestinians. This followed accusations by Gaza authorities that soldiers had fired at civilians approaching the aid centers. While the army denied most of these claims, it decided to set up the mounds due to the global scrutiny the events had triggered and the damage they could cause to the legitimacy of Israel’s war effort.
When the first shooting occurred on Sunday, resulting in dozens of deaths, the army publicly denied any involvement. However, in closed-door conversations, military officials acknowledged that gunfire had been used in the area. By Tuesday, the gap between the Israeli and Palestinian accounts had narrowed, with the IDF conceding that soldiers had fired “warning shots” to drive people away. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, that gunfire killed 27 people.
The use of warning shots aligns with testimony given to Haaretz by an IDF officer with direct knowledge of operations near the distribution centers. The officer revealed that several senior commanders had considered managing the crowds through the use of live fire. “The intent was to direct the population using gunfire,” the officer said. “The army treated it as a standard combat situation involving suspects entering a war zone. But you can’t direct crowds of this size with live fire if you want them to feel safe enough to access the areas you’ve opened.”
Gazans with food packages received from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s distribution centre late May 2025
These statements are echoed in reports by Doctors Without Borders. “People were fighting over five pallets of food. They told us to come get food, and then they started shooting from every direction. I ran 200 meters before I realized I’d been shot. This isn’t aid, it’s a lie. Are we supposed to get food for our children and die?” testified Mansour Sami Abdi.
A., a resident of Rafah who was displaced to Muwasi in Khan Yunis, was at the distribution center during the first incident. He firmly rejected the IDF’s claim that local militants had fired first. “That’s a baseless fabrication,” he told Haaretz. “There were no militants. There were planes, artillery and unmanned vehicles. The people there were innocent civilians coming to receive aid.”
According to A., “What I saw was unbearable – gunfire for several long minutes from all directions. There was a machine gun mounted on a crane, and I saw it firing automatically, like a robot. And this was in addition to the drones. The shooting came from every direction, as if the people who came there were launching an invasion, not desperate people looking for food.”
Fatma, a resident of Khan Yunis, recounted what she heard from friends of her neighbor, Fuad Abu al-Qir, 34, who was killed on Tuesday at the distribution center. He had been living with his mother and brother in a tent they set up over the ruin of their old home.
“His mother says he hadn’t eaten for three days and only drank water. His nephews were crying from hunger. That’s what pushed him to take the risk and go to Rafah,” she told Haaretz. “His friends said they arrived at around five in the morning, and thousands were already gathered near the site. They saw tanks in the area. A loudspeaker announced that there would be no aid distribution that day and told people to turn back.
“But there were so many people that turning back wasn’t possible, so they kept moving forward. The army fired into the air to get people to retreat, but they were hungry – they’d come all this way for aid and didn’t want to turn back. Some dropped to the ground and tried crawling forward on their stomachs. Fuad was shot in the chest. His friend Iyad lifted him on his shoulders, but he was shot too and bled to death. Fuad’s wife is five months pregnant. Both of them died. Without flour, without a single scrap of food.”
“Most injuries – to the head and chest”
According to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, since its operations began the previous Monday, it has distributed 107,520 food boxes, which it claims included more than seven million meals. On most days, aid distribution was limited to a single site in Tel al-Sultan in southern Rafah, near the Egyptian border. On Wednesday of last week, a second center operated on the Morag route in southern Gaza, and on Thursday, according to the Foundation, three sites were active: in Tel al-Sultan, on the Morag route, and in the al-Bureij refugee camp area near the Netzarim corridor.
For three consecutive days this week, the Red Cross reported receiving numerous casualties at its field hospital in Rafah. According to the organization, all those wounded said they were injured while trying to reach aid distribution centers. On Sunday, 179 people were brought in, 21 of whom were pronounced dead. On Monday, 50 casualties were brought in, with two confirmed dead. On Tuesday, 184 casualties were brought in, including 19 declared dead on arrival and another eight who died later.
A CNN investigation, based on videos filmed by Gazans on their way to receive humanitarian aid in Rafah on Sunday, concluded that dozens of civilians who were reported shot were hit by IDF fire. Experts analyzing the sound of the gunfire and the locations in the videos determined that the shots most likely came from machine guns mounted on tanks positioned in areas fully under Israeli military control.
CNN reporters interviewed more than 12 eyewitnesses and examined bullets recovered from the wounded and dead at local hospitals. Their analysis showed that the ammunition matched that used by the Israeli military. While the IDF initially denied that soldiers had fired at civilians, it later admitted that troops “had fired ‘warning shots’ at suspects” about one kilometer from the aid distribution center. According to CNN, the IDF declined to comment further on their findings.
Mohammad, a paramedic who accompanies medical teams, was present during the incidents on both Sunday and Tuesday. He said the shooting was directed at civilians who were following instructions but may have strayed from the designated route due to crowding. “The army told everyone to stay on the paved road, and everyone did,” he said. “At some point, live rounds were fired at the crowd. Most injuries were direct shots to the head and chest. The gunfire came from ships, drones and tanks. The army wasn’t prepared for so many people, and the area couldn’t accommodate them. Most of the victims were women and children.”
Sami T., 32, is originally from Rafah but now lives in a makeshift tent in Khan Yunis with his wife, mother, younger brother and 10 other relatives. On what he feared might be his last night on earth, Sami left his tent around 3 A.M. Tuesday to try once again to collect food from the GHF distribution center.
“I took the coastal road,” he said, “I passed what used to be a fish restaurant in Khan Yunis, and immediately heard nonstop gunfire.”
Terrified and uncertain whether to move forward or retreat, he kept going until he reached a mosque in Muwasi, near Rafah. “I was too scared to even look sideways,” he said. “People were already gathered there, and we tried to push forward, hoping to be among the first in line.”
As they moved ahead, he said, the shooting intensified, and it was clear it was aimed directly at them.
“I threw myself to the ground. People around me were screaming out names – brothers, friends, anyone they had come with. One guy next to me shouted, ‘I can’t feel my legs.’ His friends kept telling him he was okay and tried to help him up, but he couldn’t stand. When they lifted his shirt, they saw he’d been shot in the spine.”
Sami paused, “I can’t forget how he pleaded with them, ‘Don’t leave me. Die with me, but don’t leave me alone.’ They didn’t leave him. They carried him to the Red Cross.”
Even as the shooting continued, Sami kept going. Eventually, he reached the ruins of the beachfront High-Class Café.
“There was a hole in the wall and I jumped in to hide. What I saw turned my hair gray. I stepped on someone by accident and apologized, but the guy next to him looked at me and said, ‘Who are you talking to? He’s dead.'”
Sami looked around. “There were bodies everywhere – some dead, others wounded, and a few people trying to help. A guy showed up with a cart, shouting for people to load the wounded so he could take them to the Red Cross.”
Under a palm tree, Sami and others lay face down, the air thick with the smell of blood. “We waited there for what felt like forever. Around 4:45 A.M, things quieted down a bit, and we started moving again. But then the shooting started again. This time, it came from Apache helicopters above us.
“There was nowhere to hide. The best you could do was lie flat and let people fall on top of you. I couldn’t tell anymore who was wounded and who was dead.”
After another 15 minutes, the fire paused again. Sami and others cautiously advanced, reaching an intersection in western Rafah once known as the Sea Junction or “Flag Area,” after the Palestinian flag that used to fly there.
“From there, we headed to the hospital that was under construction before the war. It’s now an Israeli military base. The American troops giving out aid are stationed nearby. I’ve seen them pepper spray people who get too close.
“As soon as we reached the Flag Area, it felt like stones lit on fire were flying at us. Israeli tanks were firing directly into the crowds. We screamed and ran. I remember praying, ‘God, I don’t want food, I don’t want aid. I just don’t want to die and leave my mother to mourn me.'”
Sami eventually managed to flee. “When I finally reached the distribution site,” he said, “everything was gone. There was nothing left. But I thanked God I was still alive.”
On his way back, he ran into a man he knew who had managed to grab a sack of food and asked Sami to help carry it. “When I lifted it, he shouted, ‘Wait – you’re covered in blood!’ I looked down. My clothes were soaked. But it wasn’t my blood.
“What I went through felt like a scene from ‘Squid Game,’ only worse,” he said, shaking his head. “I swore to myself I’d never go back there. No matter how hungry we get.”
This was Sami’s third attempt to collect aid from GHF. He’d gone twice before and come back empty-handed. One of those times, he recalls, there was shooting as well, but nothing like what happened that morning. “It was the worst thing I’ve ever lived through,” he said.
Videos from the distribution sites published in recent days reinforce Palestinian claims that the aid effort has descended into chaos, not an orderly food distribution but a humiliating scramble that pits desperate people against each other in an effort to feed their children.
According to testimonies and footage, most of the food is taken by the strongest individuals – those who can run and carry heavy loads – while women, children and the elderly are left with scraps or return empty-handed. In one video, people are seen opening boxes at the distribution center and taking only the most valuable items.
A., the Rafah resident who fled to Muwasi, said he set out for the distribution site at 9:30 P.M. According to him, the shooting continued until nearly 5 A.M. “When we finally reached the aid site,” he said, “there was nothing left.”
Mustafa Asfour, a Gazan living outside Gaza and a vocal critic of Hamas, published a video from the scene. In it, a young Gazan named Amin Khalifa films himself lying on the ground with other youths nearby as gunfire echoes in the background.
הסרטון של אמין חליפה, שנהרג במרכז חלוקה
Asfour captioned the clip: “Amin Khalifa, minutes before he was killed.” In the video, Khalifa says: “As you can see, we’re surrounded and can’t move. We’re trying to get food, but it’s soaked in blood. We are dying to get food.”
The IDF chose not to respond to this report.
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