Gaza Herald- An American doctor who volunteered in the Gaza Strip has accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting Palestinian aid seekers at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution sites. Dr. Ahmad Yousaf, who spent two and a half weeks working at Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Deir el-Balah and al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, described what he called “daily patterns” of shootings. He told reporters from Amman, Jordan, that almost every day he witnessed “mass casualty incidents” involving men and boys with similar wounds, depending on the day.
On certain days, he said, dozens of patients would arrive with leg, pelvic, or groin injuries, while on others, the wounds were concentrated on the chest, upper body, or head. The consistency in these injuries led him to believe that “whoever was behind the gun” was intentionally deciding whether to maim or kill people. He emphasised that the victims’ ages varied widely.
Mounting Accusations of Orchestrated Violence
Yousaf’s account adds to mounting accusations from medical workers that Israeli forces and US contractors have carried out targeted and indiscriminate violence at GHF sites. Doctors Without Borders recently described the food distributions in famine-stricken Gaza as locations of “orchestrated killing and dehumanisation.” At the same time, Human Rights Watch said such shootings violate international law and constitute war crimes.
On Tuesday alone, at least 19 Palestinians seeking aid were killed at these sites, with many more injured. Since the GHF began operations in late May, at least 1,838 people have been killed and 13,409 wounded while trying to obtain food. Israel has at times admitted to firing at GHF locations but denies deliberately aiming at civilians.
Gaza Described as a “Death Trap”
Yousaf said most victims were boys and young men who risked their lives to collect food for their families, sometimes carrying small bags of flour over long distances. Witnesses told him they were shot while at, near, or leaving aid sites, often in what they described as indiscriminate spraying of gunfire. According to Yousaf, the patterns of injuries suggested a deliberate choice of where to fire each day. He described all of Gaza as a “death trap” and claimed it felt as if there was a daily quota of people to be killed.
He added that when Israel allowed more aid trucks into Gaza, fewer people went to the distribution points, but an increase followed this in air strikes. In those cases, the injuries shifted from gunshot wounds affecting mainly young men to bomb blasts hitting women, children, and the elderly.
Restrictions on Medical Supplies and Aid
The paediatrician said the crisis was worsened by Israel’s refusal to allow him and other medical workers to bring essential supplies into Gaza. At the border, he said, Israeli forces confiscated items such as food, vitamins, antibiotics, stethoscopes, and other basic medical equipment. This left doctors powerless to help many of the injured.
He described patients arriving in severe pain or close to death, knowing that in any other situation they could have been treated. In Gaza, however, the lack of resources meant they could not be given the care, dignity and humanity they deserved. Yousaf labelled the situation a “genocide,” pointing to both the violence and the systematic denial of essential medical and humanitarian aid.
The testimony of Dr. Ahmad Yousaf underscores what human rights groups and aid organisations have been warning for months that Gaza’s civilians are not only enduring starvation and displacement but are also being deliberately targeted in acts that may amount to war crimes. As the siege tightens and the avenues for humanitarian assistance shrink, the accounts from returning doctors serve as urgent reminders of the human toll, the collapse of medical care, and the systematic destruction of life in Gaza.
