Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported that the Israeli military has issued explicit orders to its soldiers to open fire on unarmed Palestinian civilians gathered at food distribution points in the Gaza Strip—despite knowing they pose no threat.

The report, based on testimonies from Israeli soldiers and officers, paints a harrowing picture of state-sanctioned brutality, where desperation for food is met with lethal force.

According to Haaretz, these attacks—described by one soldier as occurring in “an execution field”—have become a routine part of Israel’s military conduct in Gaza. Between one to five Palestinians are reportedly being gunned down each day near so-called humanitarian aid centers. These centers, operated under a U.S.-Israeli humanitarian mechanism, are open for just one hour a day, often without warning or proper coordination, and are under direct Israeli military supervision.

Testimonies from the front lines describe the systematic use of live fire, grenade launchers, and mortar shells instead of non-lethal crowd control methods. Civilians arriving early or after the narrow opening window are shot without warning. “There is no threat. There is no reason. And yet we shoot,” one soldier admitted.

The army’s justification—that it’s dispersing crowds—rings hollow against the backdrop of eyewitness accounts and a growing death toll. More than 550 Palestinian civilians have been killed and over 4,000 wounded by Israeli fire while waiting for food since late May, according to Palestinian medical sources.

One officer told Haaretz that the army deliberately avoids documenting these killings, hiding behind the illusion of humanitarian efforts to maintain international legitimacy. Soldiers admit the aid centers are more about optics than relief. “The death of civilians isn’t even called a tragic incident anymore,” a reservist chillingly remarked.

This policy has turned Gaza’s aid distribution sites into death traps for civilians—many of whom are children and the elderly—trying to survive amidst siege, famine, and bombardment. With Israel continuing to deny full humanitarian access, international calls for accountability and an end to these war crimes are growing louder.

The Haaretz report confirms what Palestinian voices have been pleading with the world to acknowledge: Israel’s actions in Gaza represent a deliberate, inhumane strategy to break the spirit and body of an already besieged population, with starvation and terror used as weapons of war. (ILKHA)