What was meant to be a desperate run for food ended in heartbreak for the family of Hossam Wafi, a father of six, who was killed while trying to collect flour from an aid distribution site in Rafah.
According to an AFP report, the 43-year-old man was among at least 31 Palestinians who died after Israeli forces reportedly opened fire on crowds gathering for humanitarian aid, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency. The scene at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza was filled with cries of anguish as relatives mourned Wafi, whose body was wrapped in a white shroud and kissed by his daughters before burial.
“He went to get food for his daughters — and came back dead,” sobbed his mother, Nahla Wafi, surrounded by her traumatized granddaughters.
According to family members, Wafi had travelled with his brother and nephew to a new distribution point in Rafah early Sunday morning when they were targeted. “They were just trying to buy flour,” his mother added. “But the drone came down on them.”
His uncle, Ali Wafi, voiced deep frustration over the conditions Gazans face just to secure the bare minimum. “They go there and get bombed — airstrikes, tanks, shelling — all for a piece of bread,” he told AFP. “He went for a bite of bread, not for anything else… and the result? He’s getting buried today.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed that its field hospital in Rafah treated 179 people injured in the same incident, including 21 who were already dead upon arrival. Many of the wounded, the ICRC noted, had gunshot or shrapnel injuries and said they had been heading toward a food distribution site.
Israeli authorities, along with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), denied that a deadly attack occurred, claiming instead that warning shots were fired at people who came within one kilometre of a military post.
Scenes from recent distribution points, including those recorded by the UN’s humanitarian office, show crowds funneled through metal corridors under armed watch. Tensions are high, and chaos often erupts, with some reporting food theft and long waits under harsh conditions.
Rights groups and the UN have raised concerns that the current distribution system, including GHF-run sites, violates basic humanitarian standards and fails to guarantee civilian safety.
