Watan-The Government Media Office in Gaza announced Sunday that the death toll from what it called “American-Israeli aid traps” has risen to 125 killed, 736 injured, and 9 missing since May 27, following two separate attacks on Sunday that killed 13 Palestinians and injured 153 others.
In an official statement, the office accused Israeli forces of continuing to commit horrific massacres against unarmed civilians under the guise of humanitarian aid centers, directly backed by Israel and the United States.
According to the statement, “13 civilians were martyred and 153 others injured on Sunday when Israeli forces and members of a U.S. private security company opened fire on hungry civilians gathered near two aid centers—one east of Rafah (south) and the other at Wadi Gaza Bridge (central).”
Gaza: Aid Centers Branded “Death Traps” Amid Rising Civilian Toll and International Outcry
The office added that since the start of these operations on May 27, the cumulative toll now stands at 125 deaths, 736 injuries, and 9 missing persons, characterizing the situation as a recurrent pattern of deliberate killings masked by a false humanitarian mission.
It further asserted that these aid centers, set up in open military zones under full control of Israeli forces and U.S. private security firms, have become death traps—drawing in starving crowds only to target them with live and explosive gunfire.
The statement labeled these actions as war crimes and crimes against humanity, fully qualifying under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The office urged the United Nations, the Security Council, and international organizations to immediately intervene to halt the killings, open official and recognized border crossings for neutral humanitarian aid, and stop this criminal aid model overseen by the U.S. and Israel.
It also called for an independent international investigation to document the violations and bring those responsible to justice. The office warned that the global silence around these crimes constitutes indirect complicity.
Buffer Zones Branded as “Open Traps” Amid Starvation and Forced Displacement in Gaza
Reaffirming its opposition to so-called “buffer zones” and “humanitarian corridors,” the office described them as open traps where civilians are gathered only to be targeted and killed.
According to the United Nations, Israel is deliberately starving Gaza’s 2.4 million people, pushing them toward forced displacement by sealing off crossings and blocking essential aid—especially food.
Since May 27, Tel Aviv has been distributing humanitarian aid outside UN supervision, through an entity called the “Gaza Humanitarian Relief Foundation,” which is U.S.- and Israeli-backed but rejected by the UN.
Aid is being distributed in so-called buffer zones in southern and central Gaza, but the plan is reportedly failing. Distribution often halts due to the overwhelming crowds, leading to Israeli forces opening fire, resulting in civilian casualties.
Moreover, the aid quantities are described as scarce and insufficient to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of starving civilians.
The distribution mechanism itself has drawn international condemnation for being humiliating and degrading. Civilians are reportedly forced to walk through iron cages wrapped in barbed wire, resembling what observers have compared to Nazi-era ghettos.
Even Israeli Army Radio admitted that the plan aims to accelerate the evacuation of northern Gaza residents by limiting aid distribution to just four points in southern Gaza.
With unwavering U.S. support, Israel has been carrying out genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, resulting in over 181,000 Palestinians killed or injured, most of them women and children, and more than 11,000 still missing.
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