Rafah aid distribution incident
| Rafah aid distribution incident | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Gaza war and humanitarian crisis | |
  Tel al-Sultan Location within the Gaza Strip | |
| Location | Tel al-Sultan, Rafah, Gaza Strip |
| Date | 27 May 2025 |
Attack type | Mass shooting |
| Deaths | 10+ Palestinians[1] |
| Injured | 62+ Palestinians |
| Perpetrator |  Israel Defense Forces |
On 27 May 2025, Israeli forces fired at a crowd of thousands of Palestinians as they overwhelmed a newly established aid distribution site in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, operated by the United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). At least ten Palestinians were killed while another 62 were injured.[1] While the Israel Defense Forces claimed to have fired "warning shots," a United Nations official stated that most of the injuries were caused by Israeli military gunshots. The incident took place on the first day of the GHF's operations, following an 11-week Israeli blockade since early March 2025 that had severely restricted humanitarian aid to Gaza, exacerbating the Gaza humanitarian crisis.[2][3][4]
Background
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is a Delaware-based organization established in February 2025, backed by both the Trump administration and the Israeli government as an alternative to the United Nations. This came following allegations by both Israel and the United States that Hamas was stealing aid, which the group denied. The GHF began operations on 26 May 2025 at a new distribution center in Rafah.[5] The GHF sites are secured by American contractors, particularly Safe Reach Solutions (SRS), with Israeli troops patrolling the perimeter, and have chain-link fences directing Palestinians into military base-resembling structures surrounded by large sand berms.[6] Palestinians are expected to go through identity checks and screening for involvement with Hamas to access food. The UN condemned the GHF plan and insisted that it will not operate with any scheme that fails to uphold humanitarian principles.[3]
Incident
On 27 May 2025, the GHF began distributing aid at a distribution center in Tel al-Sultan in Rafah, under Israeli military oversight. Thousands of starving Palestinians gathered to access food packages. The large crowd, including women and children, led to chaos as people clambered over fences and pushed through packed corridors to reach the supplies. As a result of the chaos, the GHF said that the American private contractors were forced to withdraw, allowing some Gazans to "take aid safely and dissipate."[1][7]
The Gaza Government Media Office reported that Israeli tanks opened live fire on the crowd, resulting in at least three deaths and 48 injuries, calling it a "deliberate massacre" and a "full-fledged war crime." This was later updated to 10 killed and 62 wounded.[1] The IDF on the other hand denied firing at Palestinians but claimed that it rather fired "warning shots" in an outside area.[2] Israel claimed to have done so to establish "control over the situation."[3] The Israeli narrative, however, had been refuted by a UN spokesperson, who insisted that "most of those injured are due to gunshots" from the Israel Defense Forces.[1]
Videos circulating show people running away from the distribution center in panic as gunfire is heard in the distance. They also show a military helicopter firing flares from the sky.[1]
Reactions
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini condemned the incident as "undiginified" and "unsafe," as well as "a distraction from atrocities." UN aid coordination office spokesperson Jens Laerke also criticized the GHF plan as "a distraction from what is actually needed, which is a reopening of all the crossings into Gaza, a secure environment within Gaza and faster facilitation of permissions and final approvals of all the emergency supplies that we have just outside the border."[8]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f "'Heinous crime': Israel kills 10 desperate aid seekers in Gaza in 48 hours". Al Jazeera. 28 May 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
- ^ a b Cheeseman, Abbie; Rubin, Shira; DeYoung, Karen; Wiener, Aaron; Bisset, Victoria (2025-05-28). "Dozens injured by gunshots amid chaos at Gaza aid hub, U.N. says". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
- ^ a b c "'Deliberate massacre' in Gaza as starving Palestinians seek Israeli-US aid". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
- ^ "Gaza: Crowds storm US-backed group's new aid distribution centre". BBC News. 2025-05-27. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
- ^ Magid, Jacob (2025-05-26). "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it began aid distribution today". Times of Israel.
- ^ "Crowd is fired on at chaotic Gaza aid-distribution site, killing at least 1 and wounding 48". AP News. 2025-05-28. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
- ^ Livni, Ephrat; Kingsley, Patrick; Harouda, Ameera; Boxerman, Aaron (2025-05-27). "Chaos Erupts at Israeli-Backed Aid Distribution Site in Gaza". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
- ^ Mohammad Al Sawalhi; Jeremy Diamond; Kareem Khadder; Abeer Salman (2025-05-27). "Chaos erupts on first day of US-backed aid distribution in Gaza after weeks of hunger". CNN. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
