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At least 64 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip in the past 24-hours. Medical sources at hospitals in the enclave say at least 16 people were killed on Sunday, including seven aid seekers.
They were traveling through a military zone in the south of the Strip, trying to reach a food distribution point near Khan Younis, ran by the Israeli-backed US contractor Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Eyewitnesses and hospital officials say Israeli soldiers opened fire at crowds of Palestinians marching their way to the distribution hub. It’s the latest in a string of fatal incidents surrounding the GHF operation, which commenced in late May.
“The gunfire was indiscriminate,” Mohamed Abed, a father of two from the Bureij refugee camp, said, adding that while many fled some people fell to the ground after being shot.
Abed and Ahmed Sayyad, another aid seeker among the crowd, said troops opened fire when a group near the front of the crowd pushed forward toward a distribution site before its scheduled opening.
The shooting occurred just hundreds of metres away from the GHF hub. The Delaware-based foundation has not commented on the incident but have previously denied any fatal incidents on their premises.
The Israeli Defence Forces do not have direct security involvement in the GHF operation, but are tasked with providing a security perimeter a few kilometres away from their sites. The IDF has not publicly acknowledged the latest incident but have repeatedly stated in the past that their troops only fire warning shots if Palestinian aid seekers get too close to their posts.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says that more than 2,000 Palestinians have been killed and close to 15,000 others were injured while seeking aid at the GHF sites or enroute to their hubs.
Many have criticised the initiative, a US-Israeli collaboration aimed at replacing traditional UN aid systems, after Israel accused the UN of having Hamas combatants embedded within its staff, and slammed the group for looting supplies for their own consumption and to sell.
Israel has not produced any evidence of those allegations, which the UN have rejected, claiming its aid deliveries are heavily secured and routinely arrive at distribution warehouses safely.
It comes as an already dire humanitarian catastrophe further deteriorates as Israel continues to prevent the access of food and basic necessities into the enclave.
The UN say 90% of Gaza’s roughly two million population are at dire risk of starvation due to the critically low levels of food in the besieged territory.
On Sunday, at least eight people died from malnutrition-related causes, including one child. The Gaza Health Ministry says the total amount of famine related deaths have risen to 289, including 115 children.
Meanwhile, Israeli attacks across the strip are intensifying ahead of an imminent offensive aimed at occupying Gaza City in the north of the enclave, after Israel’s security cabinet approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to take control of the city.
Air strikes have been targeting multiple locations, from the southernmost Rafah to the north. Eyewitnesses say Israeli missiles are targeting civilian areas, including designated safe havens. On Saturday, several people were killed in Israeli shelling of a displacement camp in Khan Younis.
The war started after Hamas staged an attack on southern Israel on 7 October, 2023, killing just under 1,200 people, whom Israel says were mainly civilians. The Gaza-based group also captured 250 people as hostages on their retreat to the Strip.
Most of the hostages have since been released in several ceasefire and exchange deals between Israel and Hamas. 50 still remain under Hamas captivity, with roughly 20 believed to be alive.
The death toll from Israel’s 22 month offensive on Gaza is now closing in on 63,0000 according to the Health Ministry.
Its figures do not distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties, but the UN says more than two-thirds of deaths it has been able to independently verify were women and children.
Additional sources • AP
