At least 51 Palestinians have been killed and more than 200 injured in the Gaza Strip while waiting for UN trucks and commercial vehicles carrying desperately needed food supplies to arrive in the territory, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and a local hospital.
Palestinian witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces launched an airstrike on a nearby home and then opened fire on a crowd in the southern city of Khan Younis.
The Israeli military said soldiers spotted a crowd around a truck carrying humanitarian aid that was stuck in Khan Yunis, near where Israeli troops were operating.
“There were reports of several casualties from gunfire from the IDF as the crowd approached. Details are under investigation,” the statement said.
The shooting does not appear to be related to a new Israeli- and US-backed humanitarian aid delivery network that was rolled out last month and has been marred by controversy and violence.
Yusef Nofal, an eyewitness, said he saw many people motionless and bleeding on the ground after Israeli forces opened fire. “It was a massacre,” he said, adding that soldiers continued to shoot at people as they fled the area.
Mohammed Abu Keshfa said he heard a loud explosion followed by intense gunfire and tank fire. “It's a miracle I survived,” he said.
The dead and wounded were taken to the city's Nasser Hospital, where the casualty figures were confirmed.
Palestinians say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on crowds trying to reach food distribution sites run by a separate US- and Israeli-backed aid group since the centers opened last month. Local health officials say dozens have been killed and hundreds wounded.
In these cases, the Israeli military admitted firing warning shots at people they said were approaching their troops in a suspicious manner.
Israel says the new system is designed to prevent Hamas from siphoning aid to fund its militant activities.
UN agencies and major aid groups deny there is any serious diversion of aid and have rejected the new system, saying it cannot meet growing needs in Gaza and that it violates humanitarian principles by allowing Israel to control who has access to aid. Experts have warned of widespread famine in Gaza.
The UN-run network has delivered humanitarian aid across the Gaza Strip throughout the 20-month war between Israel and Hamas, but faced serious obstacles after Israel eased a total blockade imposed from early March to mid-May.
UN officials say Israeli military restrictions, a breakdown in law and order and widespread looting are hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid that Israel has allowed to arrive.
Israel's military campaign has killed more than 55,300 Palestinians since October 2023, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Israel began its campaign to destroy Hamas after the group launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostages. The militants still hold 53 hostages, less than half of whom are alive, after most of the rest were released under ceasefires or other deals.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
