CNN Investigation Links Israeli Gunfire to Mass Killing of Starving Aid Seekers Near GHF Distribution Sites in Rafah

Gaza (Quds News Network)- An investigation conducted by CNN confirmed reports that Israeli forces opened fire on starving aid seekers waiting for food near a site run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) on Sunday.
CNN spoke to a dozen witnesses who said Israeli soldiers shot at crowds in volleys of gunfire that occurred sporadically throughout the morning.
It also geolocated multiple videos that placed the gunfire near a roundabout where hundreds of Palestinians had gathered about 800 metres (half a mile) away from the militarised aid in Tal al-Sultan, in the southern city of Rafah.
While none of the videos show who fired the shot, according to the investigation, weapons experts said the rate of gunfire was consistent with machine guns used by the Israeli forces. Images of bullets retrieved from victims also matched weapons used by Israel, it added.
Multiple eyewitnesses said that they saw gunfire emanating from Israeli tanks nearby.
The videos – reviewed and geolocated by CNN – capture Palestinians taking cover amid repeated bursts of gunfire, and what appear to be two explosive munitions seen landing next to the crowd.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 31 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and about 90 were injured on Sunday while waiting for food near GHF site in Rafah.
The Israeli army offered five conflicting stories to deny its role in the killing of the 31 starving civilians. Each version from the Israeli military added confusion, not clarity. Initially, Israel claimed that no incident occurred near the aid center. This was quickly disproven by eyewitness videos and images showing bodies scattered near aid trucks.
After mounting pressure, the army admitted there had been an incident. However, it claimed the event happened far from the aid site and had no connection to Israeli forces. The army then released a video showing normal aid distribution in a different area.
The third claim was that Israeli soldiers fired warning shots into the air, not at people. This contradicted medical reports and survivor testimonies that confirmed victims had direct gunshot wounds to the head, chest, and abdomen.
In its fourth version, the army insisted that no casualties resulted from the incident. But the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) later confirmed that 21 dead bodies had arrived at its field hospital in Rafah.
Finally, Israel published a drone video claiming Hamas fighters shot civilians. However, the footage was filmed in Khan Younis—not Rafah—and showed looting by gangs backed by Israel. The clip lacked any evidence of a gunfight.
Rami Abdu, director of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, called the video “a scandal.” He said, “The footage showed gangs stealing aid, not Hamas shooting civilians. Israel is trying to hide its crime with lies.”
In a statement released after the incident, the Gaza Government Media Office said the Israeli army’s drone footage was “fabricated, misleading, and part of a planned propaganda campaign to cover up a war crime.”
The office said the video was released more than 15 hours after the massacre and had been clearly edited to fit the army’s narrative. “If their drones were filming the event, why was the footage not released immediately?” the statement asked.
Officials pointed out that the location in the video was not Rafah, but east Khan Younis, far from the site of the massacre. The footage also showed flour being distributed, although the so-called Israeli-American aid does not include flour. The office said this inconsistency alone exposed the video as staged.
The statement dismissed Israeli claims about Hamas gunmen firing on civilians. “There were no clashes. Civilians were shot in the head and chest while seeking food. Israeli drones were flying overhead. No militants were there—only hunger.”
It added that the chaos seen in the video was caused by known gangs that work under Israeli protection. These gangs looted aid, fired shots into the air, and created confusion—while Israeli surveillance drones watched silently.
The office concluded by stating that Israel has been systematically blocking aid for over 90 days, bombing food trucks, and using starvation as a weapon then accusing Hamas of preventing aid. It urged the international media not to recycle Israeli military propaganda without independent verification.
Robert Maher, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Montana State University, who specializes in forensic audio analysis, examined the footage for CNN and said that the bursts of gunfire were at a rate of 15 and 16 shots per second (or 900 and 960 per minute), fired from a distance of about a quarter of a mile (450 meters).
Based on the erratic nature of the sound, Maher said that the shots seemed to be spread out, fired repeatedly in one direction. “Since the cracks are irregular, it seems more like the gunfire was being sprayed over the area.”
Trevor Ball, a former US Army senior explosive ordnance disposal team member, said the rate of fire was consistent with the FN MAG, a heavily-used machine gun in the Israeli military’s arsenal. The FN MAG is commonly equipped on the Israeli military’s Merkava tanks, which several eyewitnesses said they saw open fire on the crowds.
Ball told CNN he could not confirm the specific weaponry used, or who fired it, but the rate of fire, he said, indicated it wasn’t consistent with machine guns used by Hamas.
Ball also said the tracer fire – ammunition containing a pyrotechnic charge illuminating its trajectory – seen in the GHF’s footage is consistent with the use of machine guns. “Typically belt fed machine guns have tracer rounds inserted every few rounds. So while only 3 tracers are visible in the video, more rounds were fired.”

Doctors working at Nasser Hospital shared photos with CNN of the bullets retrieved from patients injured and killed in the attack, which weapons experts say appear to match the type of ammunition used in the Israeli military’s machine guns. “This bullet is consistent with the NATO standard 7.62mm M80, which would be fired by IDF 7.62x51mm weapons, including the Negev 7.62 and FN MAG,” Ball said of one of the images.
GHF, which runs the site, claimed: “There was no gunfire in the (distribution) center and also not in the surrounding area.”
“All aid was distributed today without incident. We have heard that these fake reports have been actively fomented by Hamas. They are untrue and fabricated.”
“Sunday’s attack was neither the first nor the last deadly assault by Israeli forces on aid seekers near GHF sites. On May 27, the first day of operations, Israeli gunfire killed 10 people who were also waiting for food near the same location in Rafah.
On Tuesday, nearly 30 people were also killed and dozens wounded while making their way to the aid sites in Tal al-Sultan in Rafah, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Since starting its operations, between May 27 and June 3, at least 102 aid seekers were killed by Israeli forces near GHF aid distribution centres in Rafah and near the so-called Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza.
Drone footage, eyewitness videos, and testimonies from medical teams in Rafah all confirmed that Israeli forces opened fire directly and intensively on civilians, with many of the fatalities receiving gunshot wounds to their head or chest.
The Israeli military admitted it shot at aid seekers on Tuesday, but claimed that they opened fire when “suspects” deviated from a stipulated route as a crowd of Palestinians was making its way to the GHF distribution site in Gaza.
On March 2, Israel announced the closure of Gaza’s main crossings, cutting off food, medical and humanitarian supplies, worsening a humanitarian crisis for 2.3 million Palestinians, according to reports by human rights organisations who have accused it of using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinains.
An Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report last month warned that almost a quarter of the civilian population would face catastrophic levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase Five) in the coming months.
After more than 80 days of total blockade, starvation, and growing international outrage, limited aid has allegedly been distributed since last week by the GHF, a scandal-plagued organization backed by the US and Israel, created to bypass the UN’s established aid delivery infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
Most humanitarian organisations, including the UN, have distanced themselves from GHF, arguing that the group violates humanitarian principles by restricting aid to south and central Gaza, requiring Palestinians to walk long distances to collect aid, and only providing limited aid, among other critiques.
The UN confirmed that Israel is still blocking food from reaching starving Palestinians with only a few trucks of aid having reached Gaza.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned that “weaponizing aid in this manner may constitute crimes against humanity.”
“Today’s events have shown once again that this new system of aid delivery is dehumanising, dangerous and severely ineffective,” Claire Manera, MSF’s emergency coordinator, said in a statement on Sunday.
“It has resulted in deaths and injuries of civilians that could have been prevented. Humanitarian aid must be provided only by humanitarian organisations who have the competence and determination to do it safely and effectively,” she added.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also demanded an independent inquiry into the killings and for “perpetrators to be held accountable”.
The United Kingdom on Wednesday called for an “immediate and independent investigation” into the deadly incidents. UK Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer said the deaths were “deeply disturbing”, and called Israel’s new aid delivery measures “inhumane”.
Moreover, two senior officials of the foundation resigned days before the start of its operations. Jake Wood, who resigned as executive director, said in a statement that the group’s plans could not be consistent with the “humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.” The chief operating officer, David Burke, also resigned, according to The Washington Post.
On May 30, the Boston Consulting Group, which had been part of the planning and implementation of the foundation, withdrew its team and terminated its association with GHF.