DaysofPal – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) committed a massacre on Sunday morning, killing over 35 Palestinian civilians and injuring dozens more — including women and children — after opening fire on desperate crowds gathered near an aid distribution point in Rafah, southern Gaza.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that 35 bodies arrived at hospitals in southern Gaza, along with approximately 50 injured civilians. Several of the wounded are in critical condition, and many remain trapped at the site of the attack with no rescue access. There are also numerous reports of individuals clinically dead still lying near the scene.
Hospitals are overwhelmed. Emergency rooms, operating theaters, and intensive care units are beyond capacity due to the influx of casualties amid a severe shortage of surgical tools, anesthesia, and critical care supplies. The Ministry noted an urgent need for blood donations, but widespread anemia and malnutrition have severely limited donor availability.
Eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos and horror, with Israeli military vehicles and quadcopter drones firing live ammunition directly at the civilians. The “Medical Relief Society” in Gaza confirmed that the IOF deliberately targeted civilians with shots to the head and chest in the vicinity of the aid point. The organization stated that the death toll surpasses the hospital’s ability to cope.
The Civil Defense reported that many victims remain unidentified due to the severity of their injuries and burns. Victims ranged across all age groups, highlighting the indiscriminate nature of the attack.
Fares Afaneh, Director of Ambulance and Medical Services in northern Gaza, accused Israeli forces of deliberately obstructing medical teams from reaching the site. “There are not enough ambulances to handle the scale of this disaster,” he said in a press briefing, adding that Israeli forces have routinely targeted emergency vehicles, further complicating rescue efforts.
In a separate incident, medical sources reported that another Palestinian was killed and several others injured by Israeli gunfire near an American aid distribution site along the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza — further evidence of systematic targeting of civilians seeking food assistance.
This massacre marks yet another tragic episode in the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, where starvation, displacement, and relentless military aggression continue to devastate the civilian population.
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