Israeli forces opened fire on crowds trying to obtain food aid in southern Gaza on 30 June, killing at least 22 Palestinians and injuring 20 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, local hospitals and eyewitnesses.
Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said it received the bodies of 11 people shot roughly three kilometres from a distribution centre run under the Israeli- and U.S.-supported Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF). Ten additional fatalities were reported after an Israeli strike on a United Nations aid warehouse in Gaza City, and another person was killed near a separate GHF hub in Rafah.
Witnesses said troops initially fired in the air before directing live rounds at the crowds returning from the Khan Younis aid site. The Israeli military said it is reviewing the incident and reiterated that it fires warning shots at individuals who approach its forces suspiciously.
The aid-site shootings were part of a wider escalation: Gaza’s Health Ministry said Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed at least 67 people across the territory the same day, including about 30 in a strike on the Al-Baqa Café in Gaza City.
Monday’s deaths add to what health officials estimate are more than 500 Palestinians killed during aid-distribution incidents tied to the month-old GHF programme. Israel says the system is meant to curb Hamas diversions of relief supplies, a claim the United Nations disputes, stressing the need for safer, better-coordinated aid channels.
