Since the start of so-called humanitarian operations led by a U.S. security firm on 27 May, Gaza has witnessed a grim pattern: families gathering in desperation for food, only to be met with bullets and bombs. According to the Al-Dameer Foundation for Human Rights, at least 270 civilians have been killed and over 2,250 wounded while waiting near aid trucks, an unbearable toll for a population already pushed to the edge.

These are not accidents. Witnesses and medics describe deliberate targeting at peak distribution hours, when thousands line up for flour and water in areas designated by Israel as “safe zones.” Bodies have been pulled from bloodied piles of aid sacks, as hope turns into horror on roads now soaked with both hunger and death.

The images, flour mixed with blood, lifeless children next to food parcels, paint a damning portrait of an international system that has collapsed in the face of Gaza’s torment. These killings are not isolated. They reflect a strategy: starve them, then shoot them when they reach for food.

Calls for independent investigations grow louder, with human rights defenders warning that Gaza is becoming an open-air graveyard. There is no safety, not in hospitals, not in schools, not even in food lines.

Until the blockade is lifted and civilians are protected, aid will remain a deadly gamble. And for Gaza’s people, survival continues to mean risking everything, just to eat.