Gaza (Quds News Network)- Palestinians are calling the deadly attack at a so-called aid distribution site in Rafah the "Witkoff Massacre", holding US envoy Steven Witkoff directly responsible for the politically driven, deadly trap.
The massacre unfolded early Sunday. Israeli forces, working with a US security company, opened fire on starving Palestinians gathered near the American-led "aid center" in Rafah.
At least 31 people were killed in Rafah alone. Another 200 were wounded, according to the Health Ministry.
In a similar incident at Wadi Gaza bridge, Israeli soldiers shot at civilians approaching another "aid point." That attack left 1 person dead and 32 injured.
Since May 27, when these aid sites began operating, the total death toll has reached 49, with more than 305 wounded.
Palestinian political analyst Abdullah Aqrabawi said this must now be known as the Witkoff Massacre.
He stated that Witkoff — Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East — is using humanitarian aid as blackmail to extract information about Israeli prisoners in Gaza.
"This is not aid. It’s a trap. It’s terrorism in the name of help," Aqrabawi said.
Media researcher Younis Abu Jarad echoed that.
He said the “distribution center” was never meant to serve civilians, but to lure them to their death.
“Israel turns bread into blood and aid into an ambush,” he stated.
Political analyst and journalist Dr. Eyad Al-Qarra described seeing hundreds of displaced people walking at night toward the American site in Rafah. They hoped for a food parcel.
“By morning, 35 were dead,” he said. “More than 100 were injured. The bullets were American and Israeli.”
Footage shared online shows children screaming, bodies carried on carts, and bloodstained sacks of flour.
Palestinians say the "Witkoff aid plan" has become a machine of mass killing.
They also accuse Arab states of complicity by allowing the Rafah border to remain shut.
"The starvation is not the only killer," said Al-Qarra. "So is the US-Israeli sniper fire waiting at the gates of fake aid."
Calls are growing across Gaza and Egypt to open the Rafah crossing, unconditionally, and end what many are calling a calculated war on the will — and hunger — of Gaza’s people.
One day before the Rafah massacre, US envoy Steven Witkoff rejected a revised ceasefire proposal from Hamas that included minor adjustments — most notably, a binding clause requiring Israel to end its genocide in Gaza.
Witkoff dismissed the proposal as “unacceptable.” He then announced full support for Israel and echoed nearly word-for-word the same statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Palestinian political analyst and strategist Saeed Ziad said Witkoff has positioned himself as “a spokesperson for the occupation.”
“He openly endorsed a temporary ceasefire that only aims to retrieve Israeli prisoners— then resume the war,” Ziad said. “This gives Israel new cover to escalate genocide under US protection.”
