In the early hours of this morning, Israeli forces opened fire on crowds of starving civilians gathered at a U.S.-Israeli aid distribution point at the Al-Alam roundabout, west of Rafah. In a separate incident this morning, at another U.S.-Israeli aid distribution point along the Netzarim corridor, one civilian was killed and several others injured. In total, both attacks claimed the lives of at least 31 civilians and injured more than 170, including five in need of resuscitation from a state of clinical death and 30 in critical condition. Victims were directly and deliberately targeted with live ammunition as they gathered in desperate need of food. With the complete collapse of emergency services, the wounded from the Al-Alam area were carried or taken in animal-drawn carts to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
These atrocities are not isolated events. They reflect a systematic Israeli policy aimed at starving the civilian population and then attacking them at the very points where aid is distributed. Such tactics have become a defining feature of Israel’s conduct throughout the ongoing genocide. Al Mezan has already warned that the so-called humanitarian mechanism imposed by Israel is nothing more than a tool of engineered starvation, intended to exacerbate the suffering of an already starving population. These aid points are intended to humiliate and are a flagrant violation of human dignity; and they have become death traps – a brutal way of exposing civilians to attack.
Al Mezan strongly condemns the brutal massacre comprised of these two incidents and committed by Israeli forces. Al Mezan denounces it as part of Israel’s broader strategy of deliberate killing, starvation, siege, destruction of essential infrastructure, and forced displacement. Israel is able to perpetrate these atrocities due to continued international inaction and the direct complicity of certain states, particularly the United States.
Al Mezan calls on the international community to act urgently to stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza, ensure the safe and unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid, and initiate an independent, transparent investigation into this and other massacres. Israel must be compelled to immediately end all forms of violence against civilians, especially those seeking humanitarian assistance. The inhumane U.S.-Israeli aid distribution mechanism must be dismantled, and humanitarian aid must be restored to the coordination and oversight of United Nations agencies. Furthermore, the total Israeli blockade of Gaza – amounting to unlawful collective punishment – must be lifted immediately.
Al Mezan further calls on the United Nations, the UN Security Council, and the European Union to condemn this crime and the broader pattern of atrocities in Gaza, to intervene decisively to halt the ongoing genocide, and to provide international protection for the civilian population. The continued silence of the international community constitutes implicit approval of these atrocities and entrenches impunity. This moment represents a defining test for the international system and the values it claims to uphold.
