Israel destroys Gaza dialysis centre; outrage grows at GHF killings

Israel kills at least 31 Palestinians waiting for food at US-backed Gaza aid sites

AJ By Lyndal Rowlands 2 Jun 2025

Israeli forces have killed 54 people in Gaza and destroyed the only facility for kidney dialysis patients in the north of the enclave.

UN and aid groups denounce Israeli killings of dozens of starving Palestinians seeking food near distribution points set up by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

Egypt and Qatar announce new efforts to secure a ceasefire deal based on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce and the entry of humanitarian aid.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 54,418 Palestinians and wounded 124,190, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The Gaza Government Media Office updated its death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead.

An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive.

WFP chief warns Gaza could be humanitarian catastrophe ‘like none other’

Cindy McCain, the executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP), has urged the Israeli government to grant the UN agency access to the Gaza Strip “so we can do our job”.

“What we need right now is an immediate ceasefire, complete unfettered access [and] every gate open to feed people and stop this catastrophe from happening,” McCain told the US broadcaster, ABC News.

“If we don’t do that, it’s going to be a humanitarian catastrophe… like none other.”

McCain also confirmed reports that Israeli forces have killed at least 31 Palestinians who were seeking food aid at the GHF point in Rafah on Sunday.

“Our people are reporting the same thing on the ground. It’s a tragedy,” she said.

Three killed in Israeli attack at US-backed aid site

We are getting reports there has been a fresh Israeli attack on Palestinians who gathered at the GHF aid distribution point in Rafah just moments ago.

At least three people were killed and 35 others were wounded, according to medical sources.

As we’ve been reporting, Israeli forces killed at least 31 people at the same site on Sunday.

Israel destroys North Gaza’s only dialysis centre

Here’s what we know:

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza says Israeli forces have bombed the Noura al-Kaabi Kidney Dialysis Centre in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza.

The centre, which is part of the Indonesian Hospital, was serving more than 160 patients with kidney failure, and is the only dialysis facility in northern Gaza.

The latest attack comes weeks after the centre reopened after a previous assault just weeks ago, according to Muneer al-Bursh, a director general at the Health Ministry.

Footage published by al-Bursh shows Israeli bulldozers at the site.

The ministry said 41 percent of patients who have kidney failure in Gaza have died over the course of the war after “being denied access to dialysis centres and the destruction of the centres and departments designated for them”.

UN condemns Israel’s ‘militarised’ aid mechanism in Gaza

The UN’s human rights office (OHCHR) has joined the chorus of concern over the Israeli killings of Palestinian aid seekers at the GHF sites in southern Rafah and near the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza.

It said the killings on Sunday follow multiple reports of deadly attacks at the sites between May 27 and 31, which killed at least 19 Palestinians and wounded 80 others.

The office stressed “once more that Israel’s militarised humanitarian assistance mechanism violates international standards on aid distribution, endangers civilians, and is contributing to the catastrophic situation in Gaza”.

It added, “The weaponisation of food for civilians and restricting or preventing their access to other life sustaining services constitute a war crime and may constitute elements of other international crimes, including genocide.”

A recap of recent developments

• Israeli forces continue pounding Gaza, killing at least 54 people on Sunday alone, while maintaining a blockade that has put the enclave on the verge of famine.
• Aid groups, including Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders, have condemned the Israeli killings of more than 30 people who had gathered at aid distribution sites run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
• Israeli forces destroyed the Noura al-Kaabi Dialysis Hospital, the only facility for dialysis patients in northern Gaza, which served more than 160 people and had been renovated and reopened just weeks ago.
• The United Nations says more than 632,000 Palestinians have been displaced since Israel broke the nearly two-month-old ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza on March 18.
• Egypt and Qatar have announced renewed efforts to secure a ceasefire deal based on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce and the entry of humanitarian aid.
• Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a ballistic missile attack on Israel’s main Ben Gurion airport. Israeli authorities say the missile was intercepted. ☀