Gaza aid crisis: 39 Palestinians killed near centers
In the Gaza Strip, 39 Palestinians were killed Saturday by Israeli shelling near humanitarian aid centers.
The approximately two million Palestinians besieged by Israel in Gaza are on the brink of starvation after more than 21 months of conflict, triggered by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023.
Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told AFP that "39 people waiting for humanitarian aid" were killed by the Israeli army.
Previously, the Civil Defense had reported 32 deaths and over 100 injured near a center south of Khan Younes and another near Rafah, attributing the attacks to "Israeli fire."
According to AFP, gunfire was reported near humanitarian aid distribution centers managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is supported by the United States and Israel. GHF stated that reports of deaths near its centers are "false."
A witness told AFP that he and five family members went to one of these centers before dawn to seek food when Israeli soldiers began shooting, he said.
This organization began its operations in late May, following a more than two-month total humanitarian blockade imposed by Israel, despite UN warnings of an imminent risk of famine in Gaza.
The UN and humanitarian NGOs refuse to collaborate with this organization, which has opaque funding, due to concerns about its procedures and neutrality.
After several weeks marked by scenes of chaos and almost daily reports of Palestinians killed while waiting for aid, GHF acknowledged Wednesday the deaths of 20 people in a stampede at one of its locations.
Earlier this week, the UN reported that 875 people had been killed attempting to obtain food since late May, 674 of them "near GHF sites," according to news.ro.
Elsewhere, in the central Gaza Strip, Civil Defense reported 12 deaths in an attack on a house in Nusseirat.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) assured Saturday that it has enough food stocks for the entire Gaza Strip for more than three months.
"Open the crossings, end the blockade, and let UNRWA fulfill its mission," it posted on X.
Indirect truce negotiations between Hamas and Israel are at a standstill, with Hamas's armed wing accusing Israel Friday of blocking them.
On the Israeli side, the October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP toll based on official figures.
Of the 251 people also abducted that day, 49 are still being held hostage in Gaza, 27 of whom have been declared dead by the Israeli army.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and, in retaliation, has launched a destructive offensive in which at least 58,765 people, mostly civilians, have been killed, according to Gaza Health Ministry data, considered reliable by the UN.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
