May 27–28
On 27 May 2025, the GHF began distributing aid at a distribution center in Tel al-Sultan in Rafah under IDF oversight. Thousands of Palestinians gathered to access food packages. The size of the crowd, which included women and children, led to chaos as people clambered over fences and pushed through packed corridors to reach the supplies. According to the GHF, the chaos resulted in the temporary withdrawal of American forces from the compound, allowing some Gazans to "take aid safely and dissipate." [13] [14] [15]
The Gaza Government Media Office reported that Israeli tanks opened fire on the crowd, resulting in at least three deaths and 48 injuries, calling it a "deliberate massacre" and a "full-fledged war crime." The count was later updated to 10 killed and 62 wounded. [13] The IDF denied firing at Palestinians, saying that it had fired "warning shots" in an outside area [1] to establish control over the situation. [2] A UN spokesperson disputed the Israeli narrative, stating that "most of those injured are due to gunshots" from the IDF. [13]
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. [13]
On 28 May, the Gaza Government Media Office stated that the IDF had killed ten civilians and wounded 62 others over the past 48 hours at the aid distribution site. [13] On 31 May, three Palestinians were killed in Rafah while trying to reach the aid distribution centre according to Palestinian medical sources. [16] The Gaza Health Ministry meanwhile stated that the death toll at the Rafah aid distribution centre had risen to 17 killed, 86 wounded and 5 missing. [17]
June
On 1 June 2025, the IDF killed 32 civilians and wounded over 250 at the aid centre in Rafah. [18] [19] The Palestine Red Crescent Society stated that its paramedics had rescued at least 23 dead Palestinians and another 23 wounded from the area. According to Nasser Hospital's emergency department, 150 injured people and 28 bodies were brought to the hospital. [20] [21] The GHF claimed in response that the reports were "untrue" and "fabricated" by Hamas, [22] publishing undated security camera footage showing a calm atmosphere to support its claims. [23] The IDF also called the reports "false," denying that it had fired "within or near" the aid distribution center, and released a drone video which it claimed showed an unrelated looting at Khan Yunis, where Palestinian militants threw rocks and fired at civilians heading to collect aid. [24] [25] Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry, hospital officials, and several witnesses said Israel was responsible for the gunfire at Rafah. [26] Médecins Sans Frontières said that its patients at Nasser Hospital "reported being shot at from all sides by Israeli drones, helicopters, boats, tanks and soldiers." [27] A CNN review based on witness testimonies, video evidence, and expert analysis, found that the shots were likely fired by the Israeli army at a location where GHF operated. [28] Pro-Palestinian social media accounts referred to the 1 June incident as the "Witkoff massacre", referring to US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff who had endorsed Israel's plan to take over aid delivery in Gaza. [29]
Footage of the aftermath of a strike was initially claimed to have occurred near the aid centre, but was later determined by BBC Verify as a previously unreported Israel Defense Forces strike, 4.5km from the aid centre, at al-Mawasi on 1 June 2025, which the Israel Defense Forces told the BBC that they had "wrongfully hit the Mawasi area" with artillery that "deviated" after "technical and operational errors". [30]
On 2 June, the Gaza Government Media Office stated that three people were killed and 35 others wounded by the IDF near the aid center, with the IDF claiming that its troops had shot at suspects who were approaching towards them. [31] It also stated that 75 people had been killed and more than 400 others had been wounded since 27 May by the IDF. [22]
On 3 June, at least 27 civilians were killed and 161 more were injured after the Israeli military said that its forces had opened fire on a group of individuals who had left designated access routes near the distribution centre in Rafah. [32] [33] [34] The International Committee of the Red Cross meanwhile reported 184 injuries. [34] Hamas meanwhile stated that so far at least 102 people had been killed and more than 490 wounded while seeking aid. [35] On the next day, the IDF declared all roads leading to aid centers to be "combat zones," thereby closing the distribution centers for the day. [36]
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation later stated that it would close its aid distribution sites on 4 June, with the IDF declaring routes leading to them as combat zones. [36] The sites reopened on 5 June. [7]
On 6 June, eight Palestinians were killed and 61 others wounded near the aid distribution centre in Rafah. [37] The death toll near the aid distribution sites meanwhile rose to 110 killed and 583 wounded. [38]
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation again shut the aid centres on 7 June, accusing Hamas of threatening it, and stated that it would open on the following day. Hamas denied the allegation. [39] That same day, six more Palestinians were killed and several others were injured by Israeli forces near the aid distribution centre. [40] [41]
On 8 June, Palestinian health officials said at least thireen people were killed and 173 others were injured by Israeli forces the aid distribution centre in Rafah. [42] The Israeli military said they fired warning shots at people it said were suspects who had advanced toward its forces and ignored warnings to turn away but did not see any casualties. Eleven bodies were brought to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis while another body and 29 injured people were brought to Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia. Palestinian witnesses there said Israeli forces had fired on them at a roundabout that is around a kilometre (half-mile) from a site run in the nearby city of Rafah. [43] The total civilian toll at the aid centres rose to 125 killed, 736 wounded and 9 missing per Hamas. [42]
Survivors of the repeated mass killings perpetrated at the distribution sites have begun to refer to the Israeli-backed operation as traps or death traps rather than aid. [19] [44]
On 9 June, fourteen civilians were killed and more than 99 wounded near the aid distribution site, with Palestinians accusing the IDF and allied local gunmen from the Popular Forces of firing at them. [45] The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation meanwhile stated that it had closed one of its centres in Tel al-Sultan due to chaotic conditions caused by the crowds. [46]
On 10 June, another 36 civilians were killed and 207 were wounded near an aid distribution site according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The victims were seeking aid before "warning shots to distance suspects" were fired by the IDF towards individuals that they claim "posed a threat to troops." By this time, at least 163 people were killed and 1,495 were wounded while trying to receive aid from the GHF. [47] [48] [49]
On 11 June, an additional 25 people were killed at night near a GHF food distribution center. Once again, the Israeli government claims to have been firing warning shots at "suspects", while the Palestinian Civil Defence claims that the IDF opened fire. Another fourteen were killed by the IDF near a GHF center, according to the Nasser Hospital. At this point, the total deaths near GHF centers has increased to 223, with the total injuries rising to 1,858. [4] There were a total of 60 killed by the IDF on 11 June. [50] The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation meanwhile accused Hamas of killing eight of its aid workers, injuring several others, and possibly taking some hostage in an attack on a bus carrying over two dozen of its Palestinian staff west of Khan Yunis. [51]
Twenty-one more people were killed and 294 wounded by the IDF near aid sites on the morning of 12 June according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The total dead near GHF aid centers has risen to 245 and the wounded to 2,152 by this time. [50] [52]
Israel Defense Forces 
Popular Forces (alleged)
