Israel Accuses Hamas Of Firing At Aid Centre In Gaza That Killed Over 30

The Israeli military has denied its involvement in the attack near an aid delivery centre in Southern Gaza's Rafah, where at least 31 people were killed and over 170 were wounded on Sunday after gunmen opened fire at large crowds on their way to receive food. Releasing purported drone footage of the attack, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) accused Hamas gunmen of firing shots, saying the armed group is doing "everything in its power" to stop Palestinians from getting food in Gaza.

"Drone footage shows gunmen in Gaza shooting at civilians going to collect aid. Hamas is doing everything in its power to prevent the successful distribution of food in Gaza," the IDF said in a post on X, adding purported footage of the attack.

The footage shows armed, masked men firing at civilians trying to collect aid. NDTV could not independently verify the video, and it was not clear who the gunmen were and who was being targeted.

Οι Γαζαίοι πεινάνε τώρα, αλλά όταν περιέφεραν τα τομάρια των νεκρών Ισραηλινών μέσα στη Γάζα ούρλιαζαν σαν ουρακοτάγκοι & κερνούσαν τον κόσμο μπακλαβά. Τώρα τρώνε σφαίρες από Χαμάς αν αρπάξουν κανα ψωμί.@Urfurslaag: Έφτιαξα νέο αντισημιτικό πίνακα ✊https://t.co/BsMK1s7gkP

— Δον Κιχώτης 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 🇪🇺 (@tengo_69) June 1, 2025

Israel's military denied its forces fired at civilians near or within the site in the southern city of Rafah. However, an Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Associated Press that troops did fire warning shots at several suspects advancing toward them overnight.

Meanwhile, quoting witnesses, Associated Press reported that it was the Israeli forces who fired toward the crowds just before dawn around a kilometre from an aid site run by an Israel and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). 

GHS, in a statement, also claimed that it delivered aid "without incident," and released a separate video on Sunday, which it claimed was at the site that appeared to show people collecting aid. The foundation has denied previous accounts of chaos and gunfire around its sites, which are in Israeli military zones where independent media have no access.

Mass Casualties 

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement that its field hospital in Rafah received 179 casualties, including women and children. It said that 21 of them were declared dead upon arrival, the majority with gunshot or shrapnel wounds. It was unclear if any of the dead were Hamas operatives. 

"All patients said they had been trying to reach an aid distribution site," the ICRC said, calling it the highest number of "weapon-wounded" people in a single incident since the hospital was set up over a year ago.

Mohammed Abu Teaima, a Gaza resident, told AP that he saw Israeli forces open fire and kill his cousin and a woman as they headed toward the distribution site. He said his cousin was shot in his chest, and his brother-in-law was among the wounded.

“They opened heavy fire directly toward us,” he said.

Ibrahim Abu Saoud, another witness, said the military fired from about 300 meters (yards) away. He said he saw many people with gunshot wounds, including a young man who died at the scene. 

The head of the World Food Program, Cindy McCain, told ABC News that staffers on the ground were reporting people killed and called it a "tragedy."

"Aid distribution has become a death trap," the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, said in a statement.

The United Nations has struggled to bring in aid after Israel slightly eased its nearly three-month blockade of the territory last month. The bloc said Israeli restrictions, the breakdown of law and order and widespread looting make it extremely difficult to deliver aid to Gaza's roughly 2 million Palestinians.