Israeli gunfire has killed at least 17 Palestinians, with dozens more injured, near a US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution site in central Gaza, reports from local health authorities indicate.
Medical personnel reported that the injured were transported to Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat camp, central Gaza, and Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City, located in the north.
The Israeli military has said that it is investigating the incident.
Last week, it had cautioned Palestinians against approaching routes to GHF sites between the hours of 6pm and 6am local time, designating these areas as closed military zones.
The GHF has not released an immediate statement regarding Tuesday’s events.
The group initiated its food package distribution in Gaza in late May, implementing a new aid distribution method that the United Nations has described as lacking impartiality and neutrality.
Many Gazans say they have to walk for hours to reach the sites, meaning they have to start travelling well before dawn if they are to stand any chance of receiving food.
While the GHF has said there have been no incidents at its so-called secure distribution sites, Palestinians seeking aid have described disorder, and access routes to the sites have been beset by chaos and deadly violence.
“I went there at 2am hoping to get some food, on my way there, I saw people returning empty-handed, they said aid packages have run out in five minutes, this is insane and isn’t enough,” said Mohammad Abu Amr, 40, a father of two.
“Dozens of thousands arrive from the central areas and from the northern areas too, some of them walked for over 20 km (12 miles), only to come back home with disappointment,” he said via a chat app.
He said he heard the firing but didn’t see what happened.
Israel allowed limited UN-led operations to resume on 19 May after an 11-week blockade in the enclave of 2.3 million people, where experts have warned a famine looms. The UN has described the aid allowed into Gaza as “drop in the ocean”.
Witnesses said at least 40 trucks carrying flour for UN warehouses were looted by desperate displaced Palestinians as well as thieves near Nabulsi roundabout along the coastal road in Gaza City.
The war erupted after Hamas-led militants took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the 7 October 2023, attack, Israel’s single deadliest day.
Israel’s military campaign has since killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the coastal enclave.
