The diversion appears to be successful
https://pchrgaza.org/killing-starving-civilians-has-become-israels-consistent-and-deliberate-pattern-of-conduct-in-gaza/The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have continued to kill Palestinian civilians, who are desperately trying to reach aid distribution points established in areas under IOF’s control in the Gaza Strip, turning these points into sites of systematic death and humiliation. These acts occur while the IOF continue to commit mass killings as part of the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, now in its twentieth consecutive month.
The IOF’s continued use of this aid distribution mechanism, despite its failure to meet the humanitarian needs of the population in Gaza and the widespread daily killings near these distribution points, indicates that the IOF is using this mechanism to engineer starvation and death as part of Israel’s gravest crime of all: genocide.
Over the past few days, our staff have documented the killing of dozens and the injury of hundreds after the IOF opened fire on starving civilians near these distribution points.
According to information gathered by our field researchers, at approximately 19:00 on Sunday, 15 June 2025, thousands of displaced people started flocking into al-Mawasi area in western Rafah, waiting until the next morning, Monday 16 June 2025, to enter the two aid distribution points established by the IOF in Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, southwest of Rafah, and in al-Sa’udi neighborhood, northwest of Rafah. Most of the displaced people, including women and children, had come from central Gaza Strip and Gaza City and remained in the area until dawn. Meanwhile, Israeli gunboats and tanks opened heavy fire and fired shells on them as they lay on the sand along both sides of al-Rashid Coastal Street in the al-Mawasi area, west of Rafah, and on al-Mohararat Street in the northwest of the city. At around 05:00, thousands of displaced people tried to move towards al-‘Alam Square and al-Mohararat Street, but the IOF met them with gunfire and shells. As a result, 31 displaced people were killed, while dozens more sustained various injuries, including serious injuries. Most of the displaced people were killed or injured near al-‘Alam Square.
At approximately 05:00 on Sunday, 15 June 2025, the IOF opened fire on a large number of displaced people while they were trying to reach the two aid distribution points established by the IOF in Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, southwest of Rafah, and in al-Sa’udi neighborhood, northwest of Rafah. As a result, seven displaced people, including a woman, were killed, while 60 others sustained various injuries. PCHR’s researchers are following up on reports that an Israeli military bulldozer buried a number of Palestinians in a pit after they had been shot by Israeli soldiers near the Israeli aid distribution point in al-Sa’udi neighborhood, northwest of Rafah.
Ibrahim Foad Yousef al-Mughrabi (23), originally from Yebna Camp in Rafah and currently displaced in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, told PCHR’s researcher:
“At approximately 06:30 on Sunday, 15 June 2025, while four of my neighbors, a large crowd of people, and I were on our way to the American-Israeli aid distribution point in al-Sa’udi neighborhood, northwest of Rafah, Israeli soldiers opened fire on us, injuring two of my neighbors with bullets to the chest. One of them, Hussam Na’im Ahmed al-Khatib (35), a father of four, immediately succumbed to his injuries. I was unable to pull or rescue Hussam and lay down on the sand beside him due to the IOF’s ongoing gunfire in our direction and around us. At around 07:15, an Israeli military bulldozer advanced toward 7 to 10 young men who were about 50 meters away from me. When the young men tried to flee, soldiers stationed in a military tank opened fire, executing them. The bulldozer then approached, bulldozed their bodies, placed them inside an unroofed room next to a pit, and covered them with sand. At around 10:30, after the IOF’s gunfire ceased and the aid distribution point reopened, I, along with other young men, managed to transport my neighbor Hussam Na’iem Ahmed al-Khatib by a donkey-drawn cart and then by a vehicle to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Field Hospital in the al-Mawasi area of Rafah, where doctors confirmed his death after examination.”
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH), the death toll of aid seekers received by Gaza’s hospitals reached 38, with more than 182 injuries reported during the past 24 hours. This raises the total number of “Livelihood” victims, who arrived at hospitals from aid distribution points, to 338 killed and over 2,831 injured.1
Moreover, Israeli airstrikes have continued across the Gaza Strip, accompanied by mass killings of displaced persons in shelters, tents, and street gatherings. The IOF have also continued to blow up and destroy the remaining houses in areas where they are stationed, particularly across Khan Yunis, eastern Gaza City, and northern Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the widespread killings committed by the IOF in the Gaza Strip, and reiterates that the IOF’s continued reliance on the current aid distribution mechanism, despite the chaos, dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries it has inflicted since its inception, indicates that its objective is not to provide humanitarian relief to the besieged and starving population in the Gaza Strip, rather to become a death trap and sites of humiliation and dehumanization , as part of a systematic and unprecedented starvation policy imposed by the IOF against Palestinian civilians for several months.
In light of this, PCHR urges the international community to exert pressure on Israel to abolish this mechanism that requires civilians to move to dangerous areas under IOF’s control, to resume aid entry and allow the international organizations to distribute aid across areas of displacement in addition to allowing the free and uninterrupted entry of goods.
PCHR reiterates its call for immediate and serious measures to halt the ongoing genocide and ensure that Israeli officials are held accountable for their crimes before international justice. It also calls on the States Parties to the Genocide Convention to fulfill their legal and moral obligations and take urgent action to protect Palestinian civilians from mass killings and grave human rights violations.
