Translated Content:
Occupied Palestinian Territory – The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said that the killing of 21 Palestinian civilians by suffocation with tear gas, underfoot, and bullets by American security forces working in direct coordination with the Israeli army, at an aid distribution point run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah, clearly reveals that this organization has become an executive arm of the system of mass killing and forced starvation besieging Gaza. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor noted that these points are no longer relief sites, but rather death traps to which starving crowds are deliberately lured, in a complex scene of humiliation and genocide that constitutes a grave violation of international law and calls for the immediate cessation of their operations, the opening of an urgent investigation, and full criminal accountability. The Euro-Med Monitor explained that its field team's documentation revealed that the massacre occurred in two stages. The first stage occurred around 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, when the Israeli occupation forces opened fire on thousands of civilians who had gathered on al-Tina Street, north of Rafah, coinciding with the unloading of food aid trucks, resulting in deaths and injuries. Despite the gunfire and casualties, thousands remained there, left with no choice but to starve to death or wait for aid, after being informed by a worker that the distribution would begin at 6:00 a.m. Some tried to climb the fence to escape, but snipers opened fire on them. Those who fell to the ground were unable to get up and were trampled underfoot. I saw women and children among the victims, and we managed to get out over the dead bodies lying there. Abdul Rahman B., one of the survivors of the massacre. The second stage occurred at 6:20 a.m., when crowds surged toward the outer gate leading to the distribution point, amidst severe overcrowding and a complete closure of the inner gate leading to the distribution area. This caused a tragic stampede amidst the absence of any safety measures or immediate intervention to contain the disaster. Instead of organizing the crowds and ensuring their safety, members of the American special security force began firing sound bombs and pepper gas at the civilians trapped inside the gates, causing panic and chaos, forcing thousands to scramble in a desperate attempt to escape. Some tried to jump into the distribution point to escape the overcrowding and certain death, but the force members opened fire on them. The firing of tear gas and sound bombs, along with the violent stampede, resulted in the deaths of at least 21 Palestinians, including seven who were shot with live ammunition, and 15 who suffocated from tear gas inhalation and the intense stampede, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. A review by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor team of several bodies revealed no signs of bullet wounds, reinforcing the narrative that the majority of victims died from suffocation or stampede, in a closed, overcrowded environment with no protective measures. One of the survivors, Abdul Rahman B., told the Euro-Med Monitor team: "At approximately 6:15 a.m., a quadcopter arrived and informed us that the distribution point had been opened and asked us to head to the gates. People rushed frantically toward the entrances. When we arrived, we found the inner door closed. There was a heavy presence of American forces with employees speaking Arabic. They asked us to step back 50 meters and enter in groups of no more than 100, but the crowding was so intense that retreat was impossible." He added: "Minutes later, they started firing sound bombs, then tear gas and pepper spray. People were confused and suffocated. Some tried to climb the wires to escape, but the snipers shot them. Those who fell to the ground couldn't get up and were trampled. I saw women and children among the victims, and we managed to escape over the dead bodies lying there." The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor emphasized that what happened proves that aid distribution points were deliberately designed in dangerous areas, with narrow paths surrounded by barbed wire that can be easily closed, unable to accommodate the huge numbers of people in need, and completely under the control of the Israeli occupation army, making them more like traps for killing and humiliation than corridors for delivering humanitarian aid. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor noted that the institution established by Israel to manage the starvation regime contented itself with a brief statement claiming to have opened an investigation into the circumstances of the massacre, a deliberate repetition of a well-known propaganda pattern: whenever starved civilians are killed, an internal investigation is announced, the results of which are not published, and no party is held accountable. The same crime is then repeated without change. Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor emphasized that it is difficult to rely on the investigation of an institution established within the framework of entrenching the starvation policy, emphasizing the need to immediately dismantle the institution and withdraw any mandate or cover granted to it under the guise of humanitarian work, as it is a direct tool in managing the crime, not a neutral intermediary for delivering aid. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor explained that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation effectively serves as a field tool in the service of the policies of siege, starvation, and killing. It operates distribution points designed to humiliate civilians and gather them in locations under tight security control, provided under the guise of so-called "organization." Instead of protecting those in need, the foundation facilitates the implementation of starvation engineering and creates a closed environment in which civilians are killed in the name of humanitarian work. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor emphasized that even in cases where a threat is alleged, this does not legally justify the use of lethal force. International law requires security forces to follow the principle of gradualism in the use of force, and only allows the resort to lethal force as a last resort and only when there is an imminent and real threat to life, which was not the case in the documented cases. This makes these killings a grave and blatant violation of international law. He stressed that the deliberate targeting of Palestinian civilians, through killing and wounding while trying to access food, along with the use of starvation as a weapon, constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and international criminal law, and constitutes war crimes under the Rome Statute, including willful killing, targeting civilians, and the use of starvation as a method of warfare, all of which are absolutely prohibited in armed conflicts. He pointed out that the pattern of these violations, including their widespread and systematic nature against the civilian population, fulfills the elements of crimes against humanity, in particular murder, persecution, and inhumane acts causing great suffering or serious bodily or mental injury, as they were committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against the civilian population. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor emphasized that placing these crimes in their broader context—including the systematic destruction of livelihoods, the denial of aid access, and the imposition of deadly living conditions on the civilian population—along with public statements issued by various political and military levels in Israel, reveals a clear and declared intent to destroy the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. This constitutes, according to Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the crime of genocide, specifically through the intentional killing of members of the group and the imposition of conditions of life calculated to bring about its total or partial destruction. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor emphasized that the international community and complicit governments bear responsibility for the ongoing horrific crimes against starving civilians at aid distribution points run by the organization in the Gaza Strip. It called for an immediate halt to its operations and the opening of an independent international investigation leading to the prosecution of its officials before international and national courts for their involvement in systematic mass killings at distribution sites run by a criminal organization forcibly imposed by the Israeli occupation army as an alternative to the UN mechanism that had been in place in the Strip for nearly a year and a half. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reiterated its call for international and national judicial bodies to hold US President Donald Trump criminally accountable for his complicity in the genocide in the Gaza Strip. This includes his adoption and direct support for the Israeli aid distribution mechanism, which was imposed by force and has transformed into a mass killing ground for starving civilians. His administration also provided a comprehensive umbrella of military, financial, political, and diplomatic support that enabled Israel to perpetrate the crime and continue to expand its scope over the course of more than 21 months. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor explained that the United States, through this organization and other means, continues to provide political, logistical, and financial cover for the occupation's crimes, making current and former US officials, most notably President Donald Trump, subject to international criminal legal accountability. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called for accountability for all heads of state and government involved in the genocide committed in the Gaza Strip, whether through direct or indirect participation in its implementation, or through providing political, military, or financial support, or facilitating its commission in any way, which constitutes criminal complicity under Article 25 of the Rome Statute. The Monitor also held states that failed to take serious measures to prevent or halt the crime legally responsible under their international obligations, particularly within the framework of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called for the opening of independent and comprehensive international investigations into the role played by the so-called "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation" in facilitating and implementing the serious crimes committed against Palestinian civilians. This includes the individual responsibility of the founders, managers, logistics coordinators, team leaders, and any staff within the foundation, whether through planning, facilitation, direct participation, or even conscious failure to prevent the commission of crimes. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor urged states with regional or universal jurisdiction to open immediate criminal investigations against all individuals associated with the institution or its contracted security companies, to hold them accountable for their role in crimes committed against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, particularly premeditated murder, starvation, and cruel or degrading treatment. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called on all states, individually and collectively, to assume their legal responsibilities and take urgent action to stop the genocide in the Gaza Strip through all their actions, to take all effective measures to protect Palestinian civilians there, to ensure Israel's compliance with the rules of international law and the decisions of the International Court of Justice, and to ensure its accountability for its crimes against the Palestinians. It also called for the implementation of the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against the Israeli Prime Minister and the former Defense Minister at the earliest opportunity and to hand them over to international justice, without prejudice to the principle of non-immunity for international crimes. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called on the international community to impose economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions on Israel due to its systematic and serious violation of international law, including a comprehensive ban on the export of weapons, spare parts, software, or dual-use products to it, or the purchase of them from it, and to immediately stop all forms of political, financial, military, intelligence, and security support and cooperation provided to Israel, including freezing the financial assets of political and military officials involved in crimes against Palestinians, imposing a travel ban on them, and suspending the work of Israeli military and security industries companies in international markets. And freezing its assets in international banks, in addition to suspending trade and customs privileges and bilateral agreements that grant Israel economic advantages that enable it to continue committing crimes against the Palestinian people.