In Gaza, where life is already tethered to survival under siege, food aid centers backed by a U.S.-contracted organization have become flashpoints of death and fear. What was introduced as a humanitarian effort has, according to eyewitnesses and rights groups, descended into a chilling pattern of forced disappearances and military violence.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)—a private U.S.-linked agency contracted to distribute aid—launched operations on May 26 at four locations throughout Gaza. However, instead of relief, these centers reportedly became surrounded by Israeli military personnel, tanks, and surveillance drones, transforming them into zones of terror.
A Massacre in Rafah
The most horrifying incident occurred at dawn in Rafah, where crowds of starving and displaced Palestinians gathered with hopes of receiving aid. Moments later, chaos erupted. Witnesses describe sudden tank fire and air assaults, leaving the ground littered with bodies.
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Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defence, confirmed at least 31 deaths and over 176 injuries, noting that “these people were just hungry… they had no weapons.”
A similar incident happened the following day. As desperate civilians approached another food center, Israeli forces opened fire again, killing three more and injuring over 40.
Aid or Weaponized Control?
The United Nations has publicly distanced itself from the aid group’s operations, warning that the effort may violate core humanitarian principles. Officials accuse the initiative of using aid as a guise for military targeting and civilian control.
Locals share similar suspicions. Sobheia Shurrab, whose son went missing after going to collect food, said from a hospital in Khan Younis:
If the people giving us food are the ones killing us, what hope do we have?
Multiple residents describe a familiar, haunting pattern: armed soldiers, ID checks, high-tech surveillance, and then, vanishing civilians.
Mysterious Disappearances on the Rise
Rights groups report an alarming trend. The Palestinian Centre for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared estimates that dozens who approached U.S.-backed aid sites—especially near frontlines—have simply vanished.
“These people don’t show up in morgues or hospital records,” said Ghazi al-Majdalawi, the Center’s research head.
“We suspect mass detentions under the cover of aid. It echoes the 1948 camps—only now, it’s hidden under the label of humanitarianism.”
A young man named Mohammed from Khan Younis shared his last moments with friends who disappeared:
“There was a man watching in plain clothes. After the shooting, I heard yelling in Hebrew and English. Then… silence. I ran, but my friends never came back.”
Mothers like Umm Ibrahim have spent days waiting outside field hospitals, showing photos of their children to wounded strangers, hoping for answers that never come.
A Humanitarian Crisis Beyond Bullets
Legal experts and humanitarian advocates argue these events amount to enforced disappearances, calling for urgent international action.
Hazem Afana, a Gaza-based attorney, told reporters that evidence is being prepared for submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council, stating:
“These are not random attacks—they are part of a system of enforced abductions hidden under the guise of food relief.”
Eyewitnesses also suggest the centers are equipped with biometric screening, identity verification, and camera surveillance—all potentially used to target civilians deemed suspicious.
Trauma in the Tents of Survival
Families like Adnan Surur’s, who share a single makeshift tent with over a dozen relatives in Al-Mawasi, have no choice but to gamble their lives for food.
“We went to eat and were bombed instead,” he said. “They call us to the aid line only to shoot us. It’s humiliation disguised as help.”
Surur described standing for hours to receive a small tin of food while being threatened, beaten, or punished for any movement deemed wrong.
Collapse of Rescue and Relief
Even emergency responders operate under siege. With no fuel and bombed-out roads, many carry injured civilians and bodies on donkey carts while dodging live fire.
A Civil Defence worker revealed: “We don’t have ambulances. We run under bullets holding bodies. This is the reality we live in.”
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called the situation a “death trap,” stressing that this isn’t just about bombs—it’s about a broader system of dehumanization and erasure.
Casualties Mount as Pressure Builds
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, over 75 civilians have been killed and more than 400 injured at these food distribution centers since the operation began just one week ago.
Global human rights bodies are now calling for the immediate suspension of these aid center operations and a full-scale investigation into what’s being called a “barbaric, militarized method” of humanitarian aid delivery.
For the families still searching for their loved ones, and those forced to risk their lives for bread, the question remains:
Is this aid—or a new form of warfare?