TEHRAN – The Israeli occupation regime kills and injures scores of starving civilians at a “failed” U.S. aid distribution center.

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) carried out a major attack on Palestinians as they approached a designated aid distribution site operated by an American company in the Mawasi area of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.

Medics say at least 31 starving Palestinian civilians were killed, and more than 200 others were injured as a result of Israeli gunfire.

The victims had gathered at what was supposed to be a humanitarian aid point, yet were targeted despite their desperate need for food after being deliberately starved by the Israeli regime.

In response, the Gaza government media office condemned such aid zones as “collective death traps, not humanitarian relief points.”

It asserted that this represents a “systematic and malicious use of aid as a weapon of war, used to blackmail starving civilians and force them into exposed killing zones.”

The media office further stressed that these areas are “managed and monitored by the occupation army, and politically and financially backed by both the Israeli occupation and the U.S. administration, which bears full moral and legal responsibility for these crimes.”

It also cited eyewitness accounts, field data, and international inquiries to argue that the “aid through buffer zones” initiative is a “failed and dangerous scheme.”

According to the statement, this initiative “serves only to support the occupation’s military and security strategies, disguising them as humanitarian efforts while official crossings remain shut and genuine aid from neutral international bodies is blocked.”

The so-called U.S.-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in Rafah has faced strong criticism from the United Nations and various international organizations, which have labeled it a “failed” operation.

Aid groups have accused the foundation of using food as a weapon in Gaza.

The mechanism, they argue, lacks both the capacity and experience to provide effective humanitarian assistance, prompting growing demands for the UN and other credible organizations to resume aid distributions following months of total Israeli blockade on the Strip.

This prolonged siege has plunged the entire population into famine, and the urgent need for limited supplies has led to several deadly incidents over the past week.

This latest attack is the deadliest so far.

To reach these so-called aid hubs, Palestinians must pass through multiple Israeli military checkpoints.

Many, including the elderly and those suffering health problems from the Israeli blockade, are unable to make the journey on foot.

In light of this massacre, the U.S.-backed Gaza aid initiative is increasingly seen as an Israeli public relations move, which fails to provide any genuine relief to the Gazans while further exacerbating their suffering.