Killings Near Gaza Aid Distribution Points: 1,000+ Deaths Documented by the UN
UN agencies documented more than 400 deaths at or near aid distribution points in Gaza. The incidents — where crowds gathering for food were killed — are among the most contested events of the conflict. The IDF cited threats and Hamas looting; witnesses described unprovoked fire.
Throughout the Gaza conflict, UN agencies documented a pattern of casualties at or near aid distribution points — locations where starving civilians gathered to receive food. The UN human rights office (OHCHR) recorded at least 1,373 Palestinians killed while seeking aid between late May and July 31, 2025 — 859 near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites and 514 near UN and other convoys (summary). Most were attributed by OHCHR to Israeli forces; Israel and GHF dispute many incidents. The most prominent single incident was the "Flour Massacre" of February 29, 2024, in Gaza City, where the Gaza Health Ministry reported over 100 people killed; the IDF said most died in a crush and from being run over, while acknowledging troops fired at people it said approached them (overview).
The Competing Accounts
The incidents have two fundamentally different characterizations:
IDF account: Crowds were pressing toward convoys in a chaotic and threatening manner; Hamas was looting and diverting aid; soldiers fired warning shots and, in some cases, opened fire when they perceived threats. The IDF conducted internal investigations and maintained that its soldiers acted within rules of engagement in dangerous circumstances.
Witness and UN account: Crowds were civilians desperate for food. Israeli forces opened fire without warning, or with minimal warning, on people who posed no military threat. Aid trucks were stopped before distribution; people who reached them were shot.
In June 2025, Haaretz quoted soldiers saying they were ordered to fire at crowds near aid sites even when no threat was present; the IDF "strongly rejected" the report, Netanyahu called it "vicious lies," and GHF denied shootings near its sites (CNN via KTVZ). Independent verification of the specific circumstances at each incident is difficult because of the conflict environment. Multiple investigations are ongoing, including by the UN Commission of Inquiry. That large numbers of people were killed near aid distribution points is not in dispute; the numbers and who fired are disputed. The question of whether those deaths constitute deliberate targeting or tragic operational failures is the subject of continued legal and factual investigation.
The incidents were cited by Jewish Voice for Peace, Senator Bernie Sanders, and numerous international officials as evidence of deliberate or reckless use of force against civilians seeking food. The Israeli government disputed each characterization and provided its own accounts of each major incident.