The death toll in Gaza surpassed 55,000 this week as dozens more Palestinians were killed while attempting to access food at militarized aid distribution sites, underscoring what humanitarian observers and local families describe as a deliberate system of starvation and state violence.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 120 Palestinians were killed in a 24-hour period across the enclave this week, including 57 individuals who were seeking humanitarian aid at distribution centers operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a U.S.- and Israeli-backed initiative. Over the same period, at least 474 people were injured, 363 of them at or near GHF sites.
Since they began operating earlier this year, the GHF centers—guarded by Israeli forces and staffed by U.S. security contractors—have been the site of 224 civilian deaths. The foundation, which was created over the objections of the United Nations and multiple long-standing humanitarian groups, replaced previous U.N.-run systems and now controls limited food access in areas of Gaza that have been under siege since Israel imposed a total blockade in March.
Issam Wahdan, a Palestinian man whose brother was killed at a distribution site near the Netzarim Corridor, described a harrowing experience while trying to obtain food aid.
“So, my brother and I decided to go early to the distribution center,” Wahdan told Al Jazeera. “When we arrived, we were surprised to see quadcopters shooting at us. We didn’t know what to do, we had never experienced this before. The quadcopter threw a bomb at us. There were many wounded and martyred people, including my brother, who was wounded yesterday and died today. One of our best friends was martyred on the spot.”
Wahdan said his brother, a father of three, had no choice but to seek out the dangerous aid center. “We need humanitarian aid so we have to go to the center. My brother was married and had two boys and one daughter. His youngest is 18 months old,” he said. “His children are hungry and that forced him to go there to get some aid. When your children are hungry, you need to do anything to provide them with food.”
The GHF model has drawn criticism from humanitarian officials for violating the principles of neutrality, independence, and impartiality. One executive resigned from the initiative last month, stating that the structure “violated the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.”
Palestinians are often forced to walk an average of 9.3 miles to access a food box distributed at the GHF’s heavily guarded hubs. Chris Newton, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, compared the rations to a notorious scientific study conducted in the U.S. during World War II.
“The sustenance is closer to the ration given in a starvation experiment run in the 1940s in the U.S. than it is to Israel’s own previous 2008 red line for the minimum calories needed to avoid malnutrition in Gaza,” Newton told Al Jazeera. “The violence, the chaos, and the complete inadequacy of the types and volume of aid being given out are not so much mistakes of the system, but really by design. This is not the system you would design if your goal was to end mass starvation in the Gaza Strip.”
UNICEF issued its own stark warning on Wednesday, posting the story of Osama, a five-year-old child suffering from severe malnutrition. “He now weighs only 5 kilograms, dangerously below the healthy weight for his age. Osama is being treated at Nasser Hospital but his full recovery depends on sufficient nutrition and follow-up care—both of which are at risk,” the organization wrote. “The recovery of children like Osama is possible only with a long-lasting cease-fire and aid at scale being allowed into Gaza.”
The Gaza Government Media Office released a statement Wednesday accusing Israel of “deliberately creating chaos in the Gaza Strip by perpetuating a policy of starvation and deliberately targeting and killing starving people seeking food.” The statement alleged these actions are carried out “through direct, often intentional, and sometimes random, killings by quadcopters, helicopters, or tanks, targeting young men, elderly people, and children who rushed to obtain whatever food aid was available to feed their children and families.”
While the Israeli military has acknowledged firing “warning shots” near distribution sites, it has denied firing on civilians indiscriminately, stating instead that it has only shot at “suspects” perceived as threats. However, accounts from Palestinians and health officials continue to contradict this narrative.
In southern Gaza, 14 people were killed near Rafah while trying to collect aid. Their bodies were transported to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. In central Gaza, seven others were killed on their way to a distribution site, according to Al-Awda Hospital. A 16-year-old girl, Ghazal Eyad, was among the dead.
“My daughter and I went to get aid, she came before me, I looked for my daughter but couldn’t find her. People told me your daughter was martyred,” her mother, Safaa Farmawi, told the Associated Press.
The Health Ministry, part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its tallies, but has reported that more than half of the 55,104 people killed so far are women and children. The Israeli government disputes these figures, claiming it only targets militants and that civilian deaths are the result of Hamas operating in populated areas. However, in previous conflicts, the ministry’s data has largely aligned with independent humanitarian assessments.
Compounding the crisis, GHF claimed this week that five of its own aid workers were killed in an attack it attributed to Hamas while traveling to a distribution site near Khan Younis. The AP reported it could not verify the foundation’s account. GHF also reported that additional workers were injured or feared kidnapped.
Despite mounting casualties, aid remains tightly controlled. Israel’s new distribution system emerged after it temporarily eased the total blockade from mid-March to mid-May. The United Nations and major relief agencies have said the current model is inadequate, dangerous, and structured in ways that may violate international law.
Experts warn that hunger is widespread and that famine is imminent unless the siege is lifted and humanitarian access is restored. Israel claims the GHF model is designed to prevent Hamas from siphoning aid, but critics say there is no evidence of widespread diversion.
Meanwhile, the political situation remains stagnant. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israeli forces had recovered the remains of two additional hostages, one of whom was identified as Yair Yaakov, killed during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack. His partner and children were previously released during a ceasefire. Israel says 53 hostages remain in Gaza, fewer than half believed to be alive.
Hamas has offered to release the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoner releases, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and a lasting ceasefire. Netanyahu has rejected those terms, saying Israel will only agree to temporary ceasefires to retrieve hostages and will continue its military campaign until Hamas is defeated or exiled.
The Israeli government also maintains it will retain indefinite control over Gaza and has discussed what it calls the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians—a proposal rejected by most of the international community as forcible expulsion.
As Israeli operations intensify and aid access narrows, the threat of mass famine looms. Gaza’s infrastructure lies in ruins. Families like Wahdan’s continue to bury their dead, while others walk miles under drones and sniper fire, not knowing whether they will return with a box of food—or be added to the growing death toll.
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