2025 Gaza Strip aid distribution killings

From 27 May to 9 October 2025, amid a famine in the Gaza Strip, more than 2,600 Palestinian civilians seeking aid were killed and thousands more were wounded when being fired upon by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), armed gangs, and contractors hired by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Most of the deadly incidents occurred in the vicinity of short-lived aid distribution sites operated by the US- and Israeli-backed GHF.

The killings began taking place on the first day of the GHF's operations, following an 11-week Israeli blockade since early March 2025 that had severely restricted humanitarian aid to Gaza, exacerbating the Gaza humanitarian crisis. On 31 July 2025, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that, as of 31 July, at least 1,373 Palestinian aid seekers were killed: 859 near GHF's sites and 514 near UN and other organizations' aid convoys. On 5 July, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that at least 743 Palestinians were killed and over 4,891 injured; and earlier, on 1 July, the Ministry noted that around 70% of dead victims were killed at GHF sites. Critics have referred to the regular mass killings at GHF distribution sites as the "hunger games" in reference to the American media franchise.

The American non-profit the Center for Constitutional Rights believes the GHF could potentially be legally liable for complicity in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against Palestinians. Amnesty International says that evidence it has gathered suggests that the GHF's purpose is "to placate international concerns while constituting another tool of Israel’s genocide". The United Nations and over 170 charities and NGOs, including Save the Children and Oxfam, accuse the GHF of failure to uphold and even violating humanitarian norms by forcing two million Palestinians into overcrowded and militarised zones and subjecting aid-seekers to almost daily attacks. Additionally, those organisations, later joined by Human Rights Watch, demanded that the GHF and its aid distribution system be closed immediately.

In late June 2025, Haaretz reported that IDF troops had received orders to fire on the unarmed crowds to "keep them away from food distribution centers". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz denied these claims, calling the Haaretz report a "blood libel." American security contractors such as Safe Reach Solutions (SRS) had reportedly also been firing live ammunition and lobbing stun grenades at Palestinians seeking aid. A former GHF worker said that he witnessed the IDF shooting indiscriminately at Palestinian civilians. Amidst a ceasefire implemented on 10 October, officials announced that GHF sites in the Strip would be temporarily shut down.