CITIZENS NEWS

Israeli forces kill 66 Palestinians in Gaza, including 38 aid seekers at U.S.-backed distribution sites

By isabelle // 2025-06-17

• Israeli forces killed 66 Palestinians in Gaza within 24 hours, including 38 civilians seeking food from U.S.- and Israeli-backed aid sites.
• UN officials condemned Israel for enforcing a "lethal aid distribution system" designed to maximize civilian suffering.
• Survivors described the attacks as deliberate traps, with Israeli tanks shelling crowds of starving families waiting for food.
• The U.S.-backed aid network has become a killing field, with more than 338 aid seekers slaughtered since late May.
• Israel’s blockade and targeted attacks on civilians reveal a policy of collective punishment, pushing Gaza toward famine.

In yet another grotesque display of state-sanctioned violence, Israeli forces massacred 66 Palestinians in Gaza over a single 24-hour period, including 38 desperate civilians seeking food from U.S.- and Israeli-backed aid distribution sites run by private American contractors. The bloodshed, which unfolded Monday near the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, has drawn fierce condemnation from UN officials, who accuse Israel of enforcing a "lethal aid distribution system" designed to maximize civilian suffering. Survivors described the scenes as a deliberate "trap," with eyewitnesses recounting how Israeli tanks shelled crowds of starving families scrambling for flour to feed their children. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 23 people were gunned down near an aid site in Rafah, their bodies later transported to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. "We went there thinking we would get aid to feed our children, but it turned out to be a trap, a killing," said Ahmed Fayad, a survivor who narrowly escaped the carnage. The massacre is part of a horrifying pattern: since late May, at least 338 aid seekers have been slaughtered by Israeli forces at these distribution points, with over 2,800 wounded.

A system designed for death

The so-called "humanitarian" aid network, operated by the U.S.-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), has become a killing field under Israeli military supervision. Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN’s Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, blasted the system as fundamentally broken. "Gaza: tragedies go on unabated while attention shifts elsewhere," he wrote on X. "Scores of people have been killed & injured in the past days including starving people trying to get some food from a lethal distribution system." Lazzarini demanded Israel lift restrictions on UN aid shipments, which have been systematically blocked despite warehouses overflowing with supplies. "Severe shortages of fuel are now hampering the delivery of critical services especially health & water," he added. Yet Israel continues to prioritize its militarized aid model, which funnels food through choke points where soldiers routinely open fire on civilians.

Eyewitnesses describe deliberate slaughter

In Khan Younis, Israeli tanks fired shells into a crowd of thousands waiting for aid trucks, killing at least 51 and wounding over 200. "All of a sudden, they let us move forward and made everyone gather, and then shells started falling, tank shells," said Alaa, a survivor interviewed at Nasser Hospital. "No one is looking at these people with mercy. The people are dying, they are being torn apart, to get food for their children." The Israeli military issued a coldly bureaucratic response, acknowledging the killings but offering no accountability. "The IDF is aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals from IDF fire following the crowd’s approach," it stated, adding it "regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals." This empty rhetoric rings hollow for Palestinians who have endured 20 months of relentless bombardment, siege, and now targeted starvation.

The U.S. is complicit in Gaza’s famine

The U.S. bears direct responsibility for this atrocity. By bankrolling Israel’s war machine and endorsing the GHF’s deadly distribution scheme, the country has enabled what UN officials call a violation of humanitarian principles. While the GHF boasts of distributing "three million meals without incident," Gaza’s streets tell a different story, littered with the bodies of those shot while reaching for a bag of flour. Meanwhile, Israel’s blockade has pushed Gaza to the brink of famine. UN agencies report that over 55,432 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, with thousands more buried under rubble. The deliberate strangulation of aid coupled with these routine massacres exposes Israel’s true objective: collective punishment. There is no justification for gunning down starving civilians. Israel’s actions are not "self-defense"; they are premeditated slaughter. The international community’s silence, particularly from Western governments, makes them accomplices. If this were any other nation, the world would call it genocide. For Gaza, it’s just another Monday. Sources for this article include: News.Antiwar.com Reuters.com APNews.com

national security Israel violence famine genocide aid dangerous humanitarian WWIII outrage globalsim Gaza