As famine grips Gaza, a 15-year-old is shot in the eye by Israeli forces while seeking food—part of a growing pattern of lethal attacks on starving civilians at humanitarian aid points.
Gaza Strip – Amid deepening starvation and conflict in the besieged Gaza Strip, a 15-year-old boy was shot in the eye by Israeli forces while attempting to collect food for his family at a humanitarian aid site. Doctors say Abdul Rahman Abu Jazar is unlikely to regain sight in his left eye.
The incident occurred near a United States and Israeli-backed GHF (Global Humanitarian Foundation) distribution point. Speaking from his hospital bed, Abu Jazar recounted the horrifying ordeal to Al Jazeera, describing how he was repeatedly shot at even after being hit.
“It was my first time going to the distribution point,” said Abu Jazar. “My siblings and I had no food. We couldn’t find anything to eat.”
Setting out at 2 a.m. local time, the teenager reached al-Muntazah Park on Gaza City’s outskirts five hours later. But instead of food, he encountered gunfire. “We were running when they began shooting. I was with three others—three of them were hit. Then I felt something like electricity shoot through my body. I collapsed. I thought I was dead.”
Eyewitnesses later told him he had been shot in the head. “They were still firing. I got scared and started reciting prayers,” he said. A doctor diagnosed a perforating gunshot wound to the eye. “I hope my eyesight will return, God willing,” the boy added.
A Grim Pattern of Attacks on Aid Seekers
Abu Jazar’s story reflects a wider and increasingly brutal pattern. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 65 Palestinians were killed and more than 500 injured while seeking aid over the past 24 hours alone. Since dawn Sunday, Israeli fire has reportedly claimed the lives of 92 people—56 of them aid seekers.
More than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed at food distribution points since the GHF began operations in May, the United Nations reports. Human rights organizations and UN agencies warn of deliberate targeting of desperate civilians.
Gaza’s famine crisis is accelerating. The Global Nutrition Cluster, which includes UN health and food bodies, confirms that at least 6,000 Palestinian children are now being treated for malnutrition. At least 175 people—including 93 children—have died due to starvation exacerbated by the Israeli blockade.
“Starvation, Siege, and Chaos”
Journalist Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah, highlighted the collapse of aid systems. “There’s a very, very small amount of trucks coming into Gaza—maybe 80 to 100 a day,” she said, referring to the so-called “humanitarian pause” which Israel claims was intended to increase aid flow. “On the ground, Palestinians are starving.”
Khoudary described the despair of residents searching for basic sustenance: “They’re struggling for a bag of wheat flour, for a food parcel. And not only that—they’re being killed for approaching trucks.”
The Government Media Office in Gaza accuses Israel of deliberately blocking over 22,000 humanitarian aid trucks, most belonging to the UN and other international organizations. Officials say this is part of a “systematic campaign of starvation, siege, and chaos.”
As Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe worsens, children like Abdul Rahman Abu Jazar are paying the highest price—not just with hunger, but with their bodies, their futures, and their sight.