Witnesses have described scenes like “a horror movie” in Gaza after Israeli forces fired towards a crowd waiting for trucks loaded with flour near Khan Younis, on one of the bloodiest days for weeks in the devastated territory.
At least 59 Palestinians were killed according to medics and hundreds more wounded in the southern city. People at the scene and doctors described seeing injured and dead with wounds typical of those caused by artillery or tank fire. Unverified video shared on social media showed about a dozen mangled bodies lying in a street.
Multiple other incidents of violence involving crowds of desperate Palestinians trying to get food were reported on Tuesday. Medics said at least 14 other people were also killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes elsewhere in the densely populated enclave, taking Tuesday’s overall death toll to at least 73.
Eight Palestinians were reported to have died in a separate shooting near an aid distribution site in the city of Rafah, and several more injured or killed in a third incident between Rafah and Khan Younis.
The Israeli military acknowledged firing in the area of the crowd in Khan Younis and said it was looking into the incident.
Musab Barbakh, 22, said he had arrived at the al-Tahlia junction at midnight. “I was sitting with a group of young men at around 8.30am when suddenly a shell landed right in the middle of us. I don’t know how I survived without any injuries. As I was running away, another shell hit another group of people. Then a missile was fired, followed by random gunfire,” he said.
“The ground was filled with martyrs, the wounded, and pools of blood. Cars were exploding, the bodies of the martyrs were torn apart – wherever you looked, you saw scenes of body parts, blood, and corpses. I felt like I was living in a horror movie.”
Abdullah Anshasi, 30, from the al-Amal neighbourhood in Khan Younis, said he, too, was waiting for the aid to arrive when “explosions began and shrapnel rained down around us”.
“Many people were killed. We saw several artillery shells land around us,” he said. “What we witnessed was horrifying: human bodies flying through the air, hundreds of injured people lying on the ground. We survived by a miracle.”
Palestinian medics said at least 59 people were killed and 221 wounded in the incident, at least 20 of them in critical condition.
“The injured were transported to us … on donkey carts, with multiple injured people stacked on top of each other. In some, as many as 20 wounded all piled up,” Dr Mohammed Saqer, the head of the nursing department at the Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis, said.
“Most of the injuries are in the upper body – limbs, chest, heart, and head. Many victims arrived as dismembered body parts, with amputations and other severe injuries. Based on our inquiries with eyewitnesses and those accompanying the injured, the attack appears to have been carried out using artillery shells, followed by live gunfire from soldiers.”
A second doctor at the Nasser medical complex said the hospital morgue was completely full, so bodies were being placed outside the building. “Thousands of people – relatives and injured – have flooded the hospital, searching for their loved ones. Wounded people are lying in the hospital courtyards. The emergency department has been completely paralysed,” they said.
The IDF said it was aware of reports of casualties “from IDF fire”.
“The details of the incident are under review. The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimise harm as much as possible to them while maintaining the safety of our troops,” its statement said.
The IDF said a crowd had been identified adjacent to an aid distribution truck that had got stuck in the area of Khan Younis, and in proximity to IDF troops operating in the area.
The exact identity of the trucks expected at the al-Tahlia junction was not immediately clear. UN agencies, commercial operators and others have all moved limited amounts of aid into Gaza in recent weeks.
Anas Barbakh, 21, said he had travelled to al-Tahlia after hearing that trucks loaded with flour had reached the crossroads for the past two days.
“So many people were killed and wounded that we couldn’t even tell who was dead, who was injured, or who was still alive. My brother and my cousin Musab were injured – one in the head and the other in the chest. We transported them to the hospital on horse-drawn carts,” he told the Guardian.
A tight blockade on all supplies entering Gaza was imposed by Israel throughout March and April, threatening many of the 2.3 million people who live there with a “critical risk of famine”. Food has become extremely scarce, sending prices for basics soaring.
“Despite the danger, we are forced to go [to get aid]. No one can afford to buy a bag of flour for $400 … I have a family of 10 people to feed,” said Barbakh.
Since the blockade was partially lifted last month, the UN has tried to bring in aid but has faced major obstacles, including rubble-choked roads, Israeli military restrictions, continuing air strikes and growing anarchy.
Aid officials said between 20 and 30 UN trucks had entered Gaza through the main checkpoint of Kerem Shalom in recent days but all had been looted. “There is no law and order. Some of it is criminal and organised but mostly it is just desperate people trying to get some food,” a senior UN official told the Guardian.
Palestinians say Israeli forces have opened fire repeatedly on crowds trying to reach food distribution points run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private organisation that recently began operating in Gaza with Israeli and US support.
The second incident reported on Monday involved Palestinians seeking to access an aid hub in Rafah. The details of the third incident were unclear, though witnesses described many injured. There was no immediate comment from the IDF or GHF.
On Monday, at least 37 Palestinians were killed as they tried to reach a GHF site, local authorities said. The IDF disputed the death toll, saying it did not match their information. Witnesses blamed that shooting on Israeli troops who opened fire early in the morning as crowds of hungry Palestinians converged on two hubs managed by the GHF.
Israel hopes the GHF will replace the previous comprehensive system of aid distribution run by the UN, which Israeli officials claim allowed Hamas to steal and sell aid. UN agencies and major aid groups, which have delivered humanitarian aid across Gaza since the start of war, have rejected the new system, saying it is impractical, inadequate and unethical. They deny there is widespread theft of aid by Hamas.
The GHF’s provisions so far have been grossly inadequate, humanitarian officials in the devastated territory said.
Israel’s military campaign since October 2023 has killed more than 55,500 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Its count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Israel launched its campaign aiming to destroy Hamas after the group’s 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostage. The militants still hold 53 hostages, fewer than half of them alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Associated Press contributed to reporting
