‘Death or food’: The Palestinians killed by Israel at Gaza’s aid centres
Khan Younis, Gaza – At the sight of her son Ahmed’s bullet-riddled body laid out in the courtyard of Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, Asmahan Shaat collapsed on the ground, overcome by grief. Her screams echoed through the air, her voice choked by shock and sorrow.
She kissed the 23-year-old’s face, hands and feet as she cried. Her six other children and relatives tried to hold her back, but she pushed them away.
“Leave me with him. Leave me with him,” she cried. “Ahmed will speak again. He told me, ‘Mom, I am not going to die. I’ll bring you something from the aid centre in Rafah.’”
Ahmed had left the displaced family’s shelter in al-Mawasi before dawn on Thursday to collect food. He never returned.
His cousin, Mazen Shaat, was with him. Mazen said Ahmed was shot in the abdomen when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd near the United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution centre in Rafah. Others were also killed and wounded.
In just one month, 600 Palestinians have been killed and more than 4,200 wounded by Israeli fire near GHF aid distribution sites, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office, and the number of deaths at these centres climbs on a near-daily basis. What were meant to be lifelines – facilitated by the US while bypassing United Nations agencies – have instead become fatal chokepoints.
Human rights organisations and UN officials have criticised the GHF model as militarised, dangerous and unlawful. A report published by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Friday quoted Israeli army soldiers saying they had been ordered to shoot into unarmed crowds, even when no threat was present.
America’s Fake Palestinian Aid Agency, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), has become a kill zone for IDF.
The GHF is led by a evangelical Christian Trump MAGA fanatic who believes in a literal Book of Revelations end of days apocalypse, which his GHF seem to be doing their best to inspire…
Israel-backed Gaza delivery group names US evangelical leader as chair
…when religious fanatics are given this level of control in lands they have a death wish for, horror follows.
Allowing this nut job to feed millions of Palestinians who have been driven to famine by mass group punishment campaigns by Israel is an abomination of anything resembling legitimacy.
The West are guilty by their silence.
The ramifications of these lunatics being able to burn the rest of us for their God never ceases to amaze me.
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I am sure all sane people find the behaviour of the IDF in shooting those queuing for food, as grossly obscene – 613 in one month ~20/day! Every week Israel ‘achieves’ another INHUMANE LOW. It’s way past the “blame stage”, it’s now outright murder! May the perpetrators rot in hell along with their compliant enablers sitting safely in their home countries. FGS these are human beings. Of course there will be a “day of reckoning”!
Couldn’t Have Said It Better myself Patrize.
What the supposed Most Moral Army is doing is so disgusting it is un-labelable.
Silence and complicity.
We are all accountable as is the current government.
At least we have John Minto and his solidarity for the Palestinian people.
” The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa has just filed a referral to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. It accuses four New Zealand government ministers and two business leaders of criminal complicity in war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by assisting Israel’s mass killing and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza ”
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2025/07/03/breaking-prime-minister-luxon-foreign-affairs-minister-winston-peters-deputy-pm-seymour-defence-minister-judith-collins-referral-to
It’s giving the IDF Einsatzgruppen a bit of training.
Simple question for anyone in the IDF – “Am I the bad guy?”
Thanks Martyn for you and John exposing the true evil of what the Israeli government and their Western supporters are doing in Gaza, while I know that they will be judged if would be nice to see a more immediate punishment of their actions and the things that Ian recommended early this week should be an immediate first step that New Zealand does to express our disgust at what Israel is doing in Gaza.
Oh dear, Martyn. The zionist lobby in New Zealand, particularly the reprehensible Juliet Moses, are completely supportive of the GHF psyop and their massacres. So I guess you’re a wicked antisemite.
I see that protesters in Melbourne have taken more direct action which I wouldn’t support although I can understand why people feel strongly about the issue.
What is our foreign Minister doing about the millions our country gave for food for the Palestinian people; this is not a good use of our aide money when those evil food distributors are abusing their role by shooting at starving people trying desperately to get food. The actions of those shooting people are despicable and yet we are sitting back doing nothing like cowards.