Aid Turned to Ashes”: 94 Palestinians Killed as Hunger and Violence Collide in Gaza
GAZA STRIP — July 4, 2025
A wave of fresh grief has swept across the Gaza Strip after 94 Palestinians were killed in less than 24 hours — including 45 people who were simply waiting for food. The mounting death toll has again drawn global outrage and raised chilling new concerns about the weaponization of humanitarian aid amid a devastating war.
Among the dead were five civilians struck outside Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites, and 40 more killed at other aid distribution points across the war-ravaged enclave. These people were not combatants, not armed — they were starving, desperate, and waiting for help. Instead, they were met with violence.
The Muwasi zone, which had been declared a “safe area” for displaced families, turned into a nightmare Wednesday night when Israeli strikes hit tents sheltering refugees — killing 15 people. Another 15 lost their lives when a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City was hit. Families already displaced multiple times were again thrust into horror and mourning.
“People were waiting for food and medicine,” said a survivor in Khan Younis. “We heard the explosion. There were screams everywhere — and then silence.”
As international observers and aid groups document the growing devastation, Amnesty International released a blistering report Thursday, accusing Israel and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation of “militarizing the aid system” and effectively turning hunger into a weapon of war.
“Israel has continued to use starvation of civilians as a weapon of war,” the report says, calling the system a booby trap for desperate Palestinians.
“This is not just a war — this is systematic destruction of life,” Amnesty charged, reaffirming previous claims that Israel’s conduct amounts to genocide.
Israel has forcefully denied the allegations, calling them **“propaganda lies”** and blaming Hamas for using populated areas as cover for militant activity. In response, the Israeli military claimed it was targeting rocket launchers used to fire on Israeli towns.
Yet, to the families burying their children and loved ones, such justifications ring hollow.
The death toll in Gaza since the war began in October 2023 has now exceeded 57,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry — a staggering number in a population of just 2.3 million. More than **half of the victims are believed to be women and children.
Despite international negotiations, including reported U.S. pressure on Hamas to agree to a 60-day ceasefire, the violence continues. Aid deliveries remain sporadic and dangerous. GHF sites, allegedly surrounded by Israeli military outposts and private security contractors, have become death zones, with over 500 deaths reported near aid centers in the last month alone**.
“What kind of world are we living in when hunger becomes a death sentence?” asked a local doctor. “Even our food lines are painted with blood.”
As Gaza’s skyline crumbles and its people starve and suffer, the international community is once again called to not just watch, but act — to insist that food, safety, and dignity are not optional, but human rights.