Children of Palestinian Reem Zaidan mourned their mother on Tuesday (June 3) after she was killed while waiting for aid in western Rafah.

The children cried alongside relatives at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where the mother of eight was later laid to rest in a funeral procession.

At least 27 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire near a food distribution site in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, health officials said, in a third day running of chaos and bloodshed to blight the aid operation.

The Israeli military said its forces had opened fire on a group of people who had left designated access routes near the distribution centre in Rafah and approached their positions.

It added it was still investigating what had happened.

The deaths came hours after Israel said three of its soldiers had been killed in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, as its forces pushed ahead with a months-long offensive against Hamas militants that has laid waste to much of the enclave.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports in northern and southern Gaza.

A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross told Reuters that its field hospital in Rafah had received 184 casualties, adding that 19 of those were declared dead upon arrival, and eight died of their wounds shortly after.

Meanwhile, recent efforts to secure a ceasefire appear to have stalled. Israel has said it accepts a U.S.-backed temporary truce to release hostages, while Hamas wants a permanent end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

The war in Gaza has raged since 2023, when Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies, and Israel responded with a military campaign that has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (JUNE 3, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. PALESTINIANS CARRYING BODY IN WHITE BODY BAG

2. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CRYING OVER BODY

3. SON OF PALESTINIAN WOMAN REEM ZAIDAN WHO WAS KILLED WHILE WAITING FOR AID, ZAIN ELDIN ZAIDAN, CRYING OVER HIS MOTHER'S BODY

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SON OF PALESTINIAN WOMAN REEM ZAIDAN WHO WAS KILLED WHILE WAITING FOR AID, AHMED ZAIDAN, 15, SAYING:

“We haven’t eaten in two months. Everything has been under siege. Of course we were going to go (to get aid). Today, my mother was telling my brother, ‘lean over, lower your head, do what I’m doing'. My brother turned his head and then a bullet went into her head. We’re supposed to be able to eat with dignity, we’re supposed to receive (aid) without humiliation, without being disgraced.”

5. WOMAN CRYING OVER BODY

6. WOMAN SHOUTING

7. WOMAN HOLDING BACK CRYING ZAIN ELDIN ZAIDAN

8. PEOPLE GATHERING AROUND BODY

9. ZAIN ELDIN ZAIDAN CRYING

10. ZAIN ELDIN ZAIDAN AND HIS BROTHER HUGING THEIR FATHER

11. 16-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER OF PALESTINIAN WOMAN REEM ZAIDAN WHO WAS KILLED WHILE WAITING FOR AID, TAHRIR ZAIDAN, SAYING (Arabic): “In the highest paradise, Mom - we’ll see her in the highest paradise, God willing.'

12. AHMED ZAIDAN AND HIS BROTHER STANDING

13. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DAUGHTER OF PALESTINIAN WOMAN REEM ZAIDAN WHO WAS KILLED WHILE WAITING FOR AID, TAHRIR ZAIDAN, 16, SAYING:

“She put on her abaya and veil, took a sack of flour and a bag with her hoping to fill them with canned food. For five days she’s been going for nothing."

14. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PRAYING OVER BODY

15. ZAIN ELDIN ZAIDAN PRAYING

16. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BROTHER OF PALESTINIAN WOMAN REEM ZAIDAN WHO WAS KILLED WHILE WAITING FOR AID, KHALED AL-AKHRAS, SAYING, WHILE CARRYING BODY:

“These are death traps, these are death traps. Our people are more aware than that, we will not walk into death traps."

17. ZAIN ELDIN ZAIDAN CRYING, WALKING

18. PEOPLE CARRYING BODY IN WHITE BODY BAG