{"id":297230,"date":"2025-06-23T12:00:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T11:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=297230"},"modified":"2025-06-23T07:22:31","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T06:22:31","slug":"the-hunger-games-inside-israels-aid-death-traps-for-starving-gazans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2025\/06\/the-hunger-games-inside-israels-aid-death-traps-for-starving-gazans\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Hunger Games\u2019: Inside Israel\u2019s Aid Death Traps for Starving Gazans"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Thousands of Palestinians walk along Al-Rashid Street carrying bags of flour after aid trucks entered through the Zikim area in northern Gaza city on June 17, 2025. Several of those seeking aid were shot by Israeli forces.\u00a0 \u00a0(Yousef Zaanoun \/Activestills)<\/p><\/div>\n

Near-daily Israeli massacres at food distribution sites have killed over 400 Palestinians in the past month alone. Survivors describe stepping over corpses to get their hands on a bag of flour: \u2018What choice do we have?\u2019<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

20 Jun 2025\u00a0<\/em>–\u00a0In the early hours of June 11, before sunrise, 19-year-old Hatem Shaldan and his brother Hamza, 23, went to wait for aid trucks near the Netzarim Corridor in the central Gaza Strip. They hoped to return with a bag of white flour for their family of five. Instead, Hamza returned with his younger brother\u2019s body wrapped in a white burial shroud.<\/p>\n

The Shaldan family had lived virtually without food for nearly two months due to Israel\u2019s blockade, crammed into a classroom-turned-shelter in eastern Gaza City. Their home, once nearby, was destroyed completely by an Israeli airstrike in January 2024.<\/p>\n

At around 1:30 a.m., the two brothers joined dozens of starving Palestinians on Al-Rashid Street along the shore upon hearing that trucks carrying flour would enter the Strip. Two hours later, they heard shouts of \u201cThe trucks are coming!\u201d followed immediately by the sound of Israeli artillery shelling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t care about the shelling,\u201d Hamza recounted to +972 Magazine. \u201cWe just ran toward the trucks\u2019 lights.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in the chaos of the crowd, the brothers got separated. Hamza managed to grab a 25kg bag of flour. When he returned to their agreed-upon meeting spot, Hatem wasn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kept calling his phone, over and over, without answer,\u201d Hamza said. \u201cMy heart ached. I began seeing dead bodies being carried over to where I was. I refused to believe my brother might be among them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Palestinians<\/a><\/p>\n
A Palestinian man is seen wounded as hundreds more walk along Al-Rashid Street carrying bags of flour after aid trucks entered through the Zikim area in northern Gaza City, June 17, 2025. Several of those seeking aid were shot by Israeli forces. (Yousef Zaanoun\/Activestills)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Hours after Hatem went missing, Hamza received a call from a friend: a photo of an unidentified body had surfaced in local Whatsapp groups, taken at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza. Hamza sent a cousin \u2014 a tuk-tuk driver \u2014 to check. \u201cHalf an hour later, he called back, his voice shaking. He told me it was Hatem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upon hearing this, Hamza passed out. When he came to, people were pouring water on his face. He rushed to the hospital, where a man wounded in the same artillery strike explained what had happened: Hatem and about 15 others had tried to hide in tall grass when Israeli tanks opened fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cHatem was hit by shrapnel in his legs,\u201d the man said. \u201cHe bled for hours. Dogs circled them. Eventually, when more aid trucks arrived, people helped move the bodies onto one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

In total, 25 Palestinians were killed that morning<\/a> waiting for aid trucks on Al-Rashid Street. Hamza brought Hatem\u2019s body back to Gaza City and buried him beside their mother, who was killed by an Israeli sniper in August 2024. Their older brother, Khalid, 21, had died months earlier \u2014 in a January airstrike while evacuating wounded civilians on his horse cart.<\/p>\n

\u201cHatem was the light of our family,\u201d Hamza said. \u201cAfter we lost our mother and Khalid, he became everyone\u2019s favorite \u2014 including my grandmother and aunts. He visited them and helped them. My grandmother collapsed when she saw his body. She still weeps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hatem had been a skilled car accessories technician with dreams of opening his own shop. \u201cHe was kind and generous and loved children; he always gave them sweets,\u201d Hamza said. \u201cEveryone who knew him came to his funeral. May God hold the occupation accountable for stealing our lives, just because we are from Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Thousands<\/a><\/p>\n
Thousands of Palestinians walk along Al-Rashid Street carrying bags of flour after aid trucks entered through the Zikim area in northern Gaza City, June 17, 2025. Several of those seeking aid were shot by Israeli forces. (Yousef Zaanoun \/Activestills)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Near-daily massacres<\/h3>\n

As the world\u2019s attention turns to the war between Israel and Iran<\/a> \u2014 and with Israel simultaneously cutting off internet and telecommunications services, imposing effective media and information blackouts<\/a> on millions of Palestinians \u2014 Israel\u2019s attacks on starving Gazans awaiting aid have only intensified.<\/p>\n

After two months<\/a> without a single drop of food, medicine, or fuel entering Gaza, a trickle of white flour and canned goods has been allowed in since late May. Most of it has gone to sites in Rafah and the Netzarim Corridor managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation<\/a> (GHF), guarded by private American security contractors and Israeli soldiers. On June 10, small shipments also began arriving via aid trucks operated by the World Food Programme (WFP).<\/p>\n

But with hunger deepening, people no longer wait for the trucks to move safely past Israeli troops. Instead, they rush toward them the moment they appear, desperate to grab whatever they can before supplies vanish. Tens of thousands gather at the distribution points, sometimes for days in advance, and many go home empty-handed.<\/p>\n

Starving civilians gather in massive crowds, waiting for permission to approach. In many instances, Israeli troops have opened fire on the masses \u2014 and even during distribution itself \u2014 killing dozens as they try to collect a few kilos of flour or canned goods to bring home in what Palestinians have dubbed \u201cThe Hunger Games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since May 27, well over 400 Palestinians have been killed and over 3,000 wounded while waiting for aid, according to Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basel. The deadliest single attack<\/a> on aid seekers occurred on June 17, when Israeli forces fired tank shells, machine guns, and drones into a crowd of Palestinians in Khan Younis, killing 70 and injuring hundreds.<\/p>\n

The limited aid trickling into Gaza falls far short of meeting even the most basic needs. As a result, many residents are forced to buy supplies from others who managed to get their hands on some food at distribution sites and are now reselling it in a desperate attempt to afford other essentials.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n
A Palestinian man carries a bag of flower on Al-Rashid Street, near the Netzarim Corridor, June 16, 2025. (Yousef Zaanoun\/ActiveStills)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018People were being killed, but everyone kept running for flour\u2019<\/h3>\n

The day after the massacre on Al-Rashid Street that claimed Hatem Shaldan\u2019s life, even larger crowds gathered in the same spot, including 17-year-old Muhammad Abu Sharia, who arrived with four relatives. The few aid trucks that arrived that week gave a sliver of hope to starving families.<\/p>\n

Abu Sharia lives with his family of nine in their partially destroyed home in southern Gaza City, the only son among six sisters. \u201cMy family didn\u2019t want me to go at first,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve been starving for two months.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 10 p.m., he made his way to Al-Rashid Street, where crowds had gathered on the sand near the shore, waiting for aid trucks. People shared warnings in hushed voices: \u201cStay behind the trucks. Don\u2019t run in front \u2014 you might get crushed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abu Sharia was shocked by what he saw. \u201cElderly people, women, children, all just waiting for a chance at flour.\u201d Then, without warning, artillery shells began falling around them.<\/p>\n

Panic broke out. Some fled. Others, like Abu Sharia, sprinted toward the trucks. \u201cPeople were being killed and wounded, but no one stopped. Everyone just kept running for the flour.\u201d<\/p>\n

He managed to grab a bag lying beside a dead body, but only made it a few meters before a gang of four men with knives surrounded him and threatened to kill him if he didn\u2019t hand it over. He let it go.<\/p>\n

Still hoping to reach another truck, he waited hours longer. Then he saw people shouting, \u201cMore aid has arrived!\u201d The trucks rolled in, barely slowing down as crowds swarmed them. \u201cI saw a man fall under one [truck] and get his head crushed.\u201d With ambulances too far away to approach for fear of Israeli airstrikes, the wounded and dead were dragged away by donkey carts and tuk-tuks.<\/p>\n

\"Palestinians<\/a><\/p>\n
Palestinians carry away a wounded man hit by Israeli fire while trying to get food aid on Al-Rashid Street, near the Netzarim Corridor, June 16, 2025. (Yousef Zaanoun\/ActiveStills)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Abu Sharia was the only one from his extended family able to bring back a bag of flour. His family, worried sick, was relieved to see him. They immediately baked bread and shared it with relatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one risks their life like this unless they have no other choice,\u201d he said. \u201cWe go because we\u2019re starving. We go because there is nothing else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018One young man was blown in half. Others had their limbs ripped off\u2019<\/h3>\n

Yousef Abu Jalila, 38, used to rely on humanitarian aid distributed through the WFP to feed his family of 10. But no such package has arrived in over two months, and the price of what little remains in the markets has skyrocketed.<\/p>\n

Now sheltering in a tent in Al-Yarmouk Stadium in central Gaza City, after their home in the Sheikh Zayed neighborhood was destroyed during the Israeli army\u2019s October 2024 incursion into northern Gaza, he told +972: \u201cMy children cry to me that they\u2019re hungry, and I have nothing to feed them.\u201d<\/p>\n

With no white flour or remnants of canned food, Abu Jalila has no choice but to show up at the aid distribution points or wait for the aid trucks. \u201cI know I might be one of those killed while trying to get food for my family,\u201d Abu Jalila told +972. \u201cBut I go, because my family is starving.\u201d<\/p>\n

On June 14, Abu Jalila left the tent camp with a group of neighbors after hearing rumors that aid trucks might arrive in the Equestrian club area in the northwestern part of the Gaza Strip. When he got there, he was surprised to find thousands of others hoping to bring back food for their families.<\/p>\n

As the hours passed, the crowd drifted closer to an Israeli military position. Then, without warning, several Israeli artillery shells exploded in the middle of the gathering.<\/p>\n

\"June<\/a><\/p>\n
Palestinians carry away a wounded man hit by Israeli fire while trying to get food aid on Al-Rashid Street, near the Netzarim Corridor, June 16, 2025. (Yousef Zaanoun\/ActiveStills)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI still don\u2019t know how I survived it,\u201d Abu Jalila said. \u201cDozens of people were killed<\/a>, their bodies torn to pieces. Many others were wounded.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the chaos, some fled in panic while others scrambled to load the dead and injured onto donkey carts as there were no ambulances or cars nearby. \u201cOne young man was blown in half; others had their limbs ripped off,\u201d Abu Jalila recalled. \u201cThese were innocent people, unarmed, just trying to get food. Why kill them this way?\u201d<\/p>\n

Shaken and empty-handed, Abu Jalila walked four hours back to Gaza City, his legs trembling. When he reached the tent, his children were already outside, waiting. \u201cThey were hoping I\u2019d bring food,\u201d he said. \u201cI wished I could die rather than see the disappointment in their eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

He vowed never to return \u2014 but with nothing left to feed his family and no aid distributed since, he knows he\u2019ll have to try again.<\/p>\n

\u2018We knew we could die. But what choice do we have?\u2019<\/h3>\n

Similar massacres have occurred in southern Gaza. Zahiya Al-Samour, 44, could barely stand after running over two kilometers while fleeing an Israeli attack on crowds gathered for aid in the Tahlia area of central Khan Younis.<\/p>\n

Struggling to catch her breath, she told +972: \u201cMy husband died of cancer last year. I can\u2019t provide for my children. There\u2019s no food in the house, not since the blockade and the halt in aid deliveries that used to sustain us during the war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Driven by desperation, Al-Samour went to Tahlia on the night of June 16, hoping to be among the first in line for the arriving aid trucks. Along with thousands of others, she camped out along the road.<\/p>\n

\"Thousands<\/a><\/p>\n
Thousands of Palestinians walk along Al-Rashid Street carrying bags of flour after aid trucks entered through the Zikim area in northern Gaza city on June 17, 2025. Several of those seeking aid were shot by Israeli forces. (Yousef Zaanoun\/Activestills)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

But the next morning, as people waited near Al-Rashid Street, tank shells suddenly rained down on the crowd, killing<\/a> over 50 people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw people losing limbs, bodies torn apart,\u201d she recounted. \u201cThree of my neighbors from Al-Zaneh [north of Khan Younis] were killed. Their bodies were unrecognizable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though she escaped without physical injury, the trauma lingers. \u201cMy heart is still trembling,\u201d she said. \u201cI watched people die while others bled on donkey carts; there were no ambulances.\u201d<\/p>\n

She returned empty-handed to the tent she erected in Al-Mawasi after the Israeli army ordered her neighborhood to evacuate. \u201cMy children are hungry,\u201d she said, her voice cracking. \u201cThey\u2019re waiting for me to bring food. I don\u2019t know what to tell them.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Nasser Hospital, 22-year-old Mohammad Al-Basyouni lies recovering from a gunshot wound to his back. He was shot on May 25 while trying to collect food in the Al-Shakoush area of Rafah.<\/p>\n

\u201cI woke up at dawn and left home [in the Fash Farsh area, between Rafah and Khan Younis] with one goal: to get flour for my sick father,\u201d he told +972. \u201cMy mother begged me not to go, but I insisted. We had no food. My father is ill, and we needed help.<\/p>\n

\u201cI left around 6 a.m., and soon after I arrived, gunfire broke out,\u201d Al-Basyouni recounted. \u201cI was hit while fleeing \u2014 a sniper shot me in the back.\u201d He was rushed to surgery in a tuk-tuk. \u201cI survived, but others didn\u2019t. Some came back in body bags.\u201d<\/p>\n

He paused, then added quietly: \u201cWe knew we could die. But what choice do we have? Hunger is a killer. We want the war and siege to end. We want this nightmare to be over. I came back wounded, and I brought nothing home. Now my sick father has lost his only provider.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Palestinians<\/a><\/p>\n
Palestinians carry away a wounded man hit by Israeli fire while trying to get food aid on Al-Rashid Street, near the Netzarim Corridor, June 16, 2025. (Yousef Zaanoun\/ActiveStills)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018We looked like animals waiting for the feeding lot to open\u2019<\/h3>\n

Despite living in central Gaza City after being displaced with his family from Beit Hanoun, 48-year-old Mahmoud Al-Kafarna set out on June 15 for the aid center run by GHF in far southwest Khan Younis.<\/p>\n

His journey took him hours on foot to Nuseirat, then by tuk-tuk to Fash Farsh, a known gathering spot for those seeking food. He and others walked from 7:30 p.m. until 2:30 a.m., eventually sheltering at Mu\u2019awiyah Mosque until the Israeli checkpoint opened.<\/p>\n

At dawn, they approached a sand barrier guarded by Israeli forces. A voice from behind the barrier barked through a loudspeaker: \u201cThe aid center is closed. There is no distribution. You must go home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Al-Kafarna, like many others, stayed put \u2014 familiar with these tactics to thin the crowds. Then came the threats: \u201cLeave or we open fire,\u201d followed by insults like, \u201cYou dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before they even finished their warning, Israeli forces began firing from their position about one kilometer away from where the crowd had gathered. \u201cBullets flew overhead,\u201d Al-Kafarna recounted. \u201cDozens were hit. No one could lift their heads.\u201d Some youth managed to evacuate the wounded to a nearby Red Cross facility, but many didn\u2019t make it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When a second announcement allowed entry half an hour later, the crowd surged forward, running two kilometers with hands raised and white bags lifted \u2014 a gesture of surrender. Then he and others navigated another two kilometers past the checkpoint, guarded by heavily armed private contractors.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll find them exactly as Hollywood portrays them: armed to the teeth, wearing dark sunglasses and bulletproof vests marked with the American flag, earpieces behind their ears, their weapons aimed directly at our bare chests,\u201d Al-Kafarna recalled. \u201cThey shoot at the ground beneath the feet of anyone who tries to approach the aid, which is placed behind a hill they\u2019re stationed on.\u201d<\/p>\n

When they finally reached the aid stockpile behind a hill, \u201cit was chaos,\u201d Al-Kafarna recalled. \u201cNo order, no fairness, just survival.\u201d<\/p>\n

To avoid being trampled or attacked, people carried knives or moved in coordinated groups. \u201cOnce you grabbed a box, you emptied it into your bag and ran. If you stopped, you\u2019d be robbed or crushed.\u201d<\/p>\n

What did he manage to take home? \u201cTwo kilos of lentils, some pasta, salt, flour, oil, a few cans of beans.\u201d Al-Kafarna paused, eyes heavy. \u201cWas it worth it? The bullets, the bodies, the crawl through death? This is how far we\u2019ve fallen, begging for survival at the barrel of a gun.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe looked like animals waiting for the feeding lot to open in a barn devoid of morality or compassion,\u201d he continued. \u201cHunger has driven us to seek food from the hands of our enemy \u2014 food wrapped in humiliation and disgrace \u2014 after once living with dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n

__________________________________________<\/p>\n

Ahmed Ahmed is a pseudonym for a journalist from Gaza City who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ibtisam Mahdi is a freelance journalist from Gaza specializing in reporting about social issues, especially concerning women and children. She also works with feminist organizations in Gaza on reporting and communications.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original – 972mag.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

20 Jun 2025\u00a0–\u00a0Near-daily Israeli massacres at food distribution sites have killed over 400 Palestinians in the past month alone. Survivors describe stepping over corpses to get their hands on a bag of flour: \u2018What choice do we have?\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":297231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[1854,87,865,1966,88,427,2159,3488,880,965],"class_list":["post-297230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-palestine-israel-gaza-genocide","tag-crimes-against-humanity","tag-gaza","tag-genocide","tag-hunger","tag-israel","tag-palestine","tag-rogue-states","tag-starvation","tag-state-terrorism","tag-war-crimes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":297232,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297230\/revisions\/297232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}