At least 15 Palestinians shot dead after new flashpoint near Gaza aid distribution centre

By RYAN HOOPER

Published: 22:06 BST, 14 June 2025 | Updated: 23:46 BST, 14 June 2025

At least 15 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire near an aid centre in central Gaza, doctors said last night.

Medics at Al-Awda and Al-Aqsa hospitals said the victims were approaching the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) yesterday when they were shot.

The Israeli army said soldiers opened fire to ‘neutralise the threat’ posed when a man continued to move towards troops and ignored their warning shots.

Last week, the army warned Palestinians not to approach roads to GHF sites between 6pm and 6am, describing the routes as closed military zones.

The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May after Israel partially lifted a near three-month blockade.

But aid remains in short supply, and has made the humanitarian situation in Gaza desperate.

Scores of Palestinians have been killed in near daily shootings as they try to get food. The UN says the Israel-backed GHF violates humanitarian impartiality and is inadequate and dangerous.

Gaza’s health ministry said at least 274 people have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded near aid distribution sites since the GHF began operations.

Medics at Al-Awda and Al-Aqsa hospitals said the victims were approaching the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) yesterday when they were shot. Pictured: Makeshift tent camps in Gaza City

Aid remains in short supply, and has made the humanitarian situation in Gaza desperate. Pictured: Smoke rises from the residential area following the Israeli attack on Khan Yunis

Hamas, which denies claims that it steals aid, said Israel was using ‘hunger as a weapon of war and turning aid distribution sites into traps of mass deaths’.

In another incident yesterday, health officials at Shifa Hospital in Gaza said Israeli fire killed at least 12 Palestinians gathering to wait for aid trucks along the coastal road north of the strip.

The Israeli military ordered residents of Khan Younis and the nearby towns of Abassan and Bani Suhaila in the southern Gaza Strip to leave their homes and go to a so-called humanitarian zone, saying it was tackling ‘terror organisations’ in the area.

Neither Israel nor Hamas seems willing to back down on core demands to restore a ceasefire in Gaza, blaming each other for the failure to reach a deal.

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At least 15 Palestinians shot dead after new flashpoint near Gaza aid distribution centre

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