Israeli forces killed several Palestinians seeking food supplies in the Gaza Strip’s so-called humanitarian zone earlier this week, rescuers and relatives of victims told Middle East Eye.
The deadly air strike had struck a vehicle near an aid distribution point in the Miraj area north of Rafah.
Disturbing images from the scene show victims’ blood mixed with flour on the floor.
Ziad Farhat, the director of rescue teams in Rafah, told MEE that the area where the people were hit is within Israel’s so-called ‘humanitarian zone’, which is supposed to be safe for displaced people.
‘From what we are seeing as rescue teams, there is no such thing as a humanitarian area’, Farhat said.
Mohammad Abu Armana, a journalist volunteering with Gaza’s civil defence, said the road where the strike took place was regularly used by civilians travelling between Khan Younis and Rafah.
While the civil defence repeatedly warned people against heading to Rafah where it is too dangerous, some still go to check on their homes, Abu Armana said.
Israeli forces killed at least 400 aid seekers in Gaza earlier this year in various air strikes and has also repeatedly bombed aid distribution centres.
In addition to this, the Jewish State has also repeatedly forced people to flee to certain zones with the promise of safety, only for them to be bombed, shot and burned to death in their makeshift tents.
‘What humanitarian area?’
In a separate incident on Wednesday, Israeli forces murdered at least seven Palestinians inside the humanitarian zone in Khan Younis.
‘What humanitarian area? The Israelis are making fools of us. I swear we were in the humanitarian area,’ said Mahmoud Abu Taha, crying above his brother Mazen’s body, who was killed in the attack.
Abu Taha and his relatives tearfully phoned their loved ones, informing them of the news, as doctors took the body away to the hospital.
They were in a humanitarian area in my uncle’s home, Abu Taha told MEE. He went to get a bag of flour for us and grab a cup of coffee with my uncle’.
Abu Taha says he was on the phone with Mazen when the strike hit.
I prepared food while waiting for him when suddenly his phone hung up, he said. Suddenly, I was told ‘your siblings were martyred.’
Near Abu Taha, his father Maher breaks down as he talks about his son.
‘Mazen is dead, Mazen is dead, people! Mazen is dead,’ he repeated.
Maher lost his son, his siblings, as well as all his nephews and nieces in the strike.
‘Mazen helped everyone. He supported people, and supported me, made me tea in the morning, Mazen is dead now,’ he added.
Shortage of shrouds
Israeli forces have murdered more than 43,700 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023, including over 17,000 children and nearly 12,000 women, according to the health ministry and local officials.
Thousands more are missing and presumed dead under the rubble.
For over 13 months, Israeli authorities have maintained a tight block on the strip, allowing less than the minimum requirement of the daily supply of food, water, electricity and medicine.
In recent weeks, there has been a shortage of shrouds used to wrap and bury dead people, according to Abu Armana.
Ambulances are also running short on medical supplies in general, he added.
Whenever there is a strike, we are forced to carry martyrs on stretchers and clean the car from blood after the incident, he told MEE.
Abu Armana says civil defence teams have asked the International Committee of the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders for shrouds, but to no avail.
International aid organisations said this week that Israel has failed to meet the United States’ demands to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Despite this, the US has decided that Israel is not flouting US law by withholding food and medicine to Palestinians and as such there will be no consequences for Israel.