A damning investigation by Haaretz has revealed that Israeli army commanders issued direct orders to open fire on Palestinians approaching humanitarian aid distribution points in Gaza, orders that turned relief centres into deadly ambushes for a population already facing starvation.

According to testimonies from active-duty Israeli soldiers, the instructions were unambiguous: shoot anyone nearing the aid zones, regardless of whether they were armed or posed a threat. These were not isolated cases, the soldiers stressed, but a field policy systematically implemented across operations.

The report describes how Israeli forces used heavy machine guns, armoured vehicles, and drones to fire on unarmed civilians, including women, children, and the elderly, many from close range. One soldier admitted: “We were shooting at hungry people as if they were attacking us. But they just wanted food.”

With over two million Palestinians in Gaza now living under siege, aid distribution points have become synonymous with danger. Survivors speak of aid lines transformed into “death traps,” where the cost of bread is a bullet, and the pursuit of food may end in execution.

This exposé lands at a time when global concern is mounting over Israel’s blockade-induced famine and the militarisation of humanitarian relief. The United Nations has already warned that Israel’s use of starvation may amount to a war crime. This latest report strengthens calls for urgent international investigations into what human rights groups increasingly describe as the deliberate targeting of civilians.

Despite repeated Israeli claims that shots were fired as “warnings” or in response to perceived threats, the Haaretz revelations paint a different picture, one of an organised campaign to terrorise and deter civilians from accessing aid.

As international courts and human rights bodies take note, this report could serve as critical evidence in efforts to hold Israel accountable for transforming Gaza’s aid lifelines into theatres of state violence.