Israel Kills 36 Starved Civilians as It Uses Hunger as a Weapon in Gaza

Gaza (Quds News Network)- Israel continues to kill starved Palestinians in Gaza while blocking food and aid, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office. On Wednesday alone, Israeli forces killed 39 civilians and injured 208 at so-called ‘aid distribution points’.

The victims were all civilians searching for flour and canned food near so-called “US-Israeli aid centers” around the Netzarim corridor and Salah al-Din Street. “What we are witnessing is not humanitarian aid but extermination disguised as relief,” the office said.

Hospital sources confirmed the toll, saying most of the dead were killed by direct Israeli fire as they waited in food lines. Since early May, Israel has tightened its siege on Gaza, blocking aid, starving civilians, and then shooting those who dare to gather at distribution points.

The total number of civilians killed at these aid centers has now reached 166 dead and 1,495 injured, the office said. “These terrifying numbers expose the true face of what is falsely called the ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF),’” it added.

The GHF, which operates under US-Israeli supervision, has been accused of funneling civilians into Israeli kill zones. “This institution… is a dirty tool in the hands of the occupation army,” the Gaza Media Office said, accusing it of serving as a “cover for organized genocide.”

In a separate press statement, the office warned that Israel is deliberately manufacturing famine and chaos across the besieged strip. “The Israeli occupation deliberately creates total chaos in the Gaza Strip by enforcing starvation and deliberately targeting and killing the starved who search for food,” the office said.

It described how tanks, helicopters, and quadcopter drones fire live ammunition at unarmed civilians—“young men, elderly, and children”—as they scramble to collect aid. “This has happened repeatedly, leaving thousands of martyrs and injured behind in a horrific scene.”

According to hospital sources, 25 starved Palestinians were killed near the Netzarim axis as they approached a GHF aid point. A few hours later, another four were killed and over 90 wounded on Salah al-Din Street while waiting for humanitarian supplies.

The Gaza office stated that Israel is using aid as bait. “Israel supports organized theft of flour and food in a systematic and obvious way,” the statement said. It also revealed that Israeli-backed gangs loot aid trucks to worsen the collapse of civil order.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s genocide has killed or injured over 181,000 Palestinians, displaced hundreds of thousands, and left more than 11,000 people missing under rubble. The United Nations has warned that Israel is using famine as a weapon of war, which could amount to forcible transfer, a war crime.

Despite repeated international warnings, Israel has kept all crossings shut for over 100 days. “Starved civilians withdraw to their homes without food,” the Gaza office said, “as Israel deliberately sabotages international and UN institutions working in Gaza.”

The government demanded that the international community take urgent action to stop the massacres and shut down the GHF. “We demand an international investigation into the crimes of killing civilians at death points,” it said, “and we hold the Israeli occupation fully responsible for this bloody chaos.”