Palestinian and international rights groups have accused Israeli forces of carrying out a calculated massacre in northern Gaza, killing at least 67 starving civilians and wounding more than 150 after luring them toward what was believed to be an aid distribution point. Eyewitnesses say soldiers ordered the crowd, desperate for flour after days without food, to approach with their hands raised, only to open fire at close range, aiming for their heads.

The killings took place near the al-Waha area, close to the Zikim crossing, where Israeli tanks had already been positioned. Survivors describe scenes of horror, with bodies strewn across the ground and wounded civilians left crawling away as gunfire continued. Rights monitors have condemned the attack as part of a broader Israeli policy of using food aid as bait, exploiting famine conditions to inflict maximum suffering and humiliation.

Amid Gaza’s deepening starvation crisis, in which deaths from malnutrition are mounting, human rights advocates say such repeated and targeted attacks on civilians meet the threshold for crimes against humanity. They are calling for urgent, independent investigations, warning that these deliberate killings are not isolated incidents, but part of a systematic campaign to break the will of an already besieged population.