As Israel’s war on Gaza stretches into yet another month with no negotiated ceasefire in sight, a new chapter of horror has unfolded at the sites meant to deliver relief. In a span of 48 hours, two separate attacks on humanitarian aid distribution centres have left dozens of Palestinians dead and many more wounded, provoking an international chorus of condemnation.
On Saturday, 31 Palestinians were killed and more than 170 were wounded in Rafah when Israeli forces opened fire near an aid distribution site, according to medical officials.
The Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported treating dozens of wounded civilians, many with gunshot and shrapnel injuries. Victims said they had been “shot at from all sides” by Israeli drones, helicopters, boats, tanks, and soldiers.
The victims, mostly women and children, had gathered to receive flour and other essentials.
On Sunday, the Israeli military denied that its forces had opened fire on civilians at or near the site, calling the reports “false.” Yet, videos circulating on social media tell a different story: of chaos, bloodshed, and people trying in vain to resuscitate the dying.
Less than a day later, on Monday, a second round of fire claimed at least three more lives near a distribution point one kilometre from a facility run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by both the US and Israel. The organisation clarified it had no role in the previous day’s distribution.
In the past eight days, more than a hundred Palestinians have been killed and around 500 injured in the Israeli military’s deliberate attacks on the aid distribution centres.
“It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who called for an independent investigation into the killings. He posted the statement on X.
Over a year ago, the UN condemned another flour massacre in the south-west of Gaza.
Aid centres or death zones?
Humanitarian organisations have labelled these areas “death zones.”
“These ‘aid’ concentration sites, in which a handful of desperate people are given starvation rations as a cruel publicity stunt designed to deflect attention from Israel’s forced starvation campaign are in reality ‘killing zones’ for that state’s machine of death and destruction,” declared the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in a sharply worded statement.
Amnesty International’s Secretary-General Agnes Callamard echoed this critique, stating that thousands of starving Palestinians were being driven to seek aid due to what she described as “Israel’s calculated policy to use starvation as a weapon of war.”
World leaders call for action against Israel
The backlash has extended well beyond human rights organisations. Political leaders in Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific have issued rare public rebukes.
Türkiye’s Communications Director Fahrettin Altun condemned Israel’s attack on aid sites: “We condemn in the strongest terms this cruelty that dooms innocent people to hunger and thirst with an inhuman understanding, and we invite humanity to raise a louder voice and take more concrete steps against this atrocity,” he said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, through spokesperson Stefan Cornelius, emphasised that Israel must “immediately allow sufficient humanitarian aid into the blockaded enclave,” as reported by WAFA.
In Cairo, a joint press conference between Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi underscored growing regional impatience. Both called for an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire,” with Araghchi linking wider regional tensions, including unrest in the Red Sea, to Israel’s ongoing military operation.
Even traditionally cautious voices have spoken with urgency.
“The situation is intolerable in Gaza, and getting worse by the day,” said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in remarks from Scotland. “Humanitarian aid needs to get in at speed and at volumes that it is not getting in at the moment, causing absolute devastation,” he added.
In Australia, former foreign ministers Gareth Evans and Bob Carr joined lawmaker Ed Husic in demanding targeted sanctions if Israel does not halt its renewed military offensive and unblock aid.
However, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese resisted these calls, stating his focus remains on “peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians rather than sound bytes.”
Artists, activists unite in solidarity
The diplomatic sphere is not alone in raising alarm. A broad coalition of artists, activists, and public intellectuals has turned its gaze toward Gaza.
"Carrying dozens of activists — including artists and elected officials — the sailboat Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s symbolic mission, departed from Catania in an attempt to breach the Israeli naval blockade and deliver humanitarian aid."
A wider group of Hollywood celebrities including Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Riz Ahmed, Guillermo del Toro, and Ralph Fiennes—added their names last month to a public letter condemning the film industry’s silence on what they called a “genocide” in Gaza.
Others, including Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem, and directors Pedro Almodovar and Alfonso Cuaron, signed on as well, calling themselves “ashamed” of Hollywood’s failure to speak out.
Meanwhile, Lebanese activist Mohamad Safa described the current food crisis in Gaza as a “man-made famine.”
At the University of Cambridge, students have staged a protest encampment beneath the storied “Newton Tree” at Trinity College, demanding the university sever investment ties with Israeli companies and arms suppliers. When authorities erected barriers to block the site from view, the students relocated their tents to nearby St. John’s College.
On the ground, humanitarian agencies warn that conditions are nearing irreversible collapse. The World Food Programme (WFP) stated in a post on X that it has enough food to sustain Gaza’s population of 2.2 million for two months, but only a ceasefire can make distribution viable.
MSF summed up the global reaction in one phrase: “The silence is deafening.”
With the death toll in Gaza now exceeding 54,000 and food insecurity reaching catastrophic levels, the repeated targeting of aid centres has transformed humanitarian sanctuaries into sites of mass killing.
As protests swell and international voices rise in anger and solidarity, a singular, searing question remains unanswered – will the world’s outrage translate into action?
