KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza — What began as a desperate journey for food ended in bloodshed once again.
At least 27 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday morning, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, after Israeli forces opened fire near an aid distribution site in Tel al-Sultan, west of Rafah. Dozens more were wounded.
It was the third deadly shooting in as many days.
“They were just trying to get flour,” said Mahmoud Al-Farra, a paramedic with the Palestine Red Crescent Society. “We found bodies on the road, people shot from behind. It was chaos.”
Footage seen by this reporter showed stretchers flooding into Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis, where grieving families gathered outside the emergency wing. Many of the injured were young men, covered in dust and blood, some barely conscious.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said troops fired at individuals who strayed from designated paths near the area.
“A number of suspects were seen approaching the forces, not using the approved route,” the IDF said in a statement. “Initial warning shots were fired. When they continued advancing, further fire was directed near specific individuals.”
The military said it is reviewing reports of casualties.
Aid—and Risk
For thousands of Gazans, aid drops are now a gamble between starvation and getting shot.
The US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) had posted on Facebook early Tuesday that an aid site would open in southern Gaza. The page urged people to use a specific corridor and warned they would be turned away if they did not.
“The IDF will be in the area to secure the safe passage,” read the post, published at around 5 a.m. An hour later, the message was edited: the site was closed.
The GHF has not publicly commented on Tuesday’s events.
Tuesday’s shooting unfolded near the Al-Alam roundabout, the same location where similar incidents took place on Sunday and Monday.
According to Palestinian health officials, three people were killed on Monday under similar circumstances. On Sunday, 31 people lost their lives, reportedly shot while approaching the same aid hub.
Israeli authorities deny firing directly at any aid distribution site. A military source told local media that troops had engaged individuals nearly a kilometre away from the distribution area before it had officially opened.
Tensions and Blockade
These clashes come amid a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where famine conditions have worsened under an 11-week Israeli blockade. Access to food, water, and medical care remains extremely limited.
International organisations, including Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), have sounded the alarm. “We’re treating victims of gunshot wounds every day,” said Dr. Karim Louhichi, a field doctor with the group. “Most of them are civilians. Some are children.”
Israel maintains it is targeting Hamas operatives in the area and accuses the group of hiding among civilians.
Palestinian officials, however, say the repeated shootings near food distribution points show a disregard for human life.
“These people are starving. They are not fighters,” said Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra. “Every trip to collect food has become a death sentence.”
The Human Cost
Outside Nasser Hospital, 56-year-old Fatima Najar sat on the pavement, clutching a photo of her youngest son, Musa.
“He left to find food for his sisters,” she whispered. “He came back in a plastic bag.”
In Gaza today, hunger kills slowly. But bullets are quicker.
And as the death toll climbs, the line between survival and violence grows ever thinner.