Israel kills 36 More Across Gaza, Continues to Target Aid Seekers

One of the sources on the ground told Türkiye's Anadolu Agency (AA) that 12 people were killed and several others were injured in a strike in the Shejaiya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City.

Eight more people were killed by Israeli gunfire while attempting to obtain humanitarian aid in the Netzarim area in central Gaza, the official news agency WAFA said, citing medical sources.

Civil defense spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) that they were killed and 30 others wounded "following Israeli fire targeting thousands of civilians waiting for aid."

Bassal said the crowd was hit by Israeli "bullets and tank shells."

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was "looking into" the report.

The latest in a string of deadly incidents near aid distribution sites came after the U.N. had condemned the "weaponisation of food" in the Gaza Strip, where a U.S.- and Israeli-backed foundation has largely replaced established humanitarian organizations.

Pressure grew Tuesday on the privately run aid group Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which was brought into the Palestinian territory at the end of May to replace United Nations agencies but whose operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and neutrality concerns.

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, called the U.S.- and Israeli-backed system an "abomination" that has put Palestinians' lives at risk, while a spokesman for the UN human rights office, Thameen Al-Kheetan, condemned the "weaponisation of food" in the territory.

Despite easing its aid blockade in May, Israel continues to impose restrictions.

The Gaza Health Ministry says that since late May, more than 500 people have been killed near aid centers seeking scarce supplies. The civil defense agency said Israeli forces killed over 50 people waiting for aid on Tuesday.

The GHF has denied responsibility for deaths near its aid points.

Bloodbath continues

Bassal, the civil defense spokesman, said Israeli airstrikes on central and northern Gaza early Wednesday killed at least 14 people.

A pre-dawn strike on a house in the central Nuseirat refugee camp killed six people, including a child, with 10 others killed in two separate strikes on houses in Deir al-Balah and east of Gaza City, Bassal said.

Rescue teams recovered the body of a young Palestinian from the rubble in the town of Abasan in eastern Khan Younis in southern Gaza, a medical source said.

Two more Palestinians were killed and others injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting a gathering of people near the Omari Mosque in Jabalia al-Balad, northern Gaza.

The war was triggered by Hamas' October 2023 incursion of southern Israel, which caused 1,219 deaths, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel's genocidal Gaza war, in response, has killed at least 56,077 people, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.

Source: Daily Sabah