ISRAEL opened fire on Palestinians, killing at least 51 and wounding more than 200, while they waited for UN trucks to enter the territory with desperately needed food, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry and a local hospital.
Palestinian witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces carried out an air strike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd in the southern city of Khan Younis.
It did not appear to be related to a new Israeli and US-supported aid delivery network that rolled out last month and has been marred by controversy and violence.
Yousef 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 the soldiers continued firing on people as they fled from the area.
Mohammed Abu Qeshfa said he heard a loud explosion followed by heavy gunfire and tank shelling. “I survived by a miracle,” he said.
Palestinians say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on crowds trying to reach food distribution points run by a separate US and Israeli-backed aid group since the centres opened last month. Local health officials say scores have been killed and hundreds wounded.
In those instances, the Israeli military has acknowledged "firing warning" shots at people it said had approached its forces in a "suspicious manner".
Israel claims the new system is designed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off aid to fund its militant activities, however, UN agencies and major aid groups deny there is any major diversion of aid and have rejected the new system.
The organisations have said it cannot meet the mounting 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.
UN officials say Israeli military restrictions, a breakdown of law and order, and widespread looting make it difficult to deliver the aid that Israel has allowed in.
Israel’s onslaught since October 2023 has killed more than 55,300 Palestinians, with more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
