Israeli forces killed 23 Palestinians on Thursday, including 16 people awaiting humanitarian aid in central Gaza, in what witnesses describe as a massacre near a U.S.-backed aid distribution site.

Massacre Near Netzarim Axis

According to medical sources, Al-Awda and Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospitals received 16 bodies and dozens of wounded after Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinians gathered near an aid center along the Netzarim axis. Witnesses said Israeli drones also dropped explosives on the crowd, increasing the death toll and sowing chaos among the desperate civilians.

“The victims lay on the ground for hours before ambulances could reach them,” one witness told Al Jazeera, describing the horror that unfolded at the scene.

Widening Death Toll from "Humanitarian Trap"

This incident is part of what Palestinian sources now call the “American-Israeli aid trap” — a system established outside the supervision of the UN and international NGOs, under the so-called "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation." According to health authorities in Gaza, the system has caused the deaths of over 300 people and injured more than 2,600 since May 7.

The Gaza Health Ministry also reported three more fatalities following an Israeli airstrike on Palestine Mosque in central Gaza on Thursday.

Systematic Starvation and Home Destruction

As part of Israel’s broader blockade and siege on Gaza, water, food, and medicine remain cut off. Israeli forces are reportedly supporting organized gangs looting aid convoys. The assault on Gaza has led to the destruction of homes east of Jabalia and pushed the region further into famine.

UN figures are absent, but local sources say over 185,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded in Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023—many of them children. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced, and widespread hunger has killed numerous others.

The violence marks a new escalation in Israel's ongoing campaign in Gaza, now characterized by international observers and rights groups as a campaign of starvation, displacement, and collective punishment. Despite International Court of Justice orders to cease such operations, the siege continues.