The Gaza government media office on Friday condemned what it described as a “heinous crime” after oxycodone pills were reportedly found inside flour bags distributed by American-Israeli aid centers operating in Gaza.

Hundreds of Palestinians are being killed simply trying to collect food — 516 in the past month alone near aid sites — and now, the food they risk their lives for is reportedly poisoned with crushed opioids

“We have so far documented four testimonies from citizens who found these pills inside the flour bags,” the media office said in a statement, adding that it is investigating the “possibility that some of these narcotic substances were deliberately ground or dissolved in the flour itself.”

Oxycodone is a prescription opioid used to manage severe and chronic pain, including in cancer patients. The drug is known to be highly addictive and can cause life-threatening complications, including respiratory failure and hallucinations.

The statement comes amid multiple images circulating online showing crushed white pills found inside flour distributed as part of humanitarian aid coordinated by Israeli forces. Local pharmacists and doctors in Gaza have expressed alarm.

Palestinian pharmacist Omar Hamad described the incident as “the most despicable form of genocide.” Khalil Mazen Abu Nada, a Palestinian doctor, wrote on Facebook that the discovery is “a means to obliterate our societal awareness.”

The Gaza media office said it holds Israel “fully responsible for this heinous crime of spreading addiction and destroying the Palestinian social fabric from within.” It accused the Israeli military of “exploitation of the blockade to smuggle these substances as ‘aid and assistance,’” and labeled the Israeli and American-operated aid centers “death traps.”

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a joint Israeli-American organisation operating aid collection points across Gaza, has come under increased scrutiny. On Wednesday, fifteen human rights and legal groups issued a joint statement calling for the suspension of GHF, citing its alleged role in undermining international humanitarian efforts and enabling “forced displacement” of Palestinians.

The joint statement warned that GHF’s activities could amount to complicity in “crimes under international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide.”

Gaza’s health ministry reported that at least 516 Palestinians have been killed near GHF-operated aid distribution points in the past month. On Friday, Haaretz reported that Israeli soldiers testified they have been ordered to shoot and kill unarmed Palestinians at these sites.

No official response has yet been issued by the Israeli military or GHF regarding the presence of oxycodone in aid flour bags. Investigations are ongoing.