Gaza: Rescue Services Report 21 Deaths from Israeli Gunfire Near Aid Center
Gaza: Rescue services reported that 21 people were killed in the center of the Palestinian territory due to Israeli gunfire targeting individuals gathered near an aid distribution center.
"Twenty-one deceased and approximately 150 injured were transferred to the hospital after Israeli occupation forces targeted gatherings of citizens waiting for assistance on Salaheddine road (between the so-called Netzarim junction and the bridge over Wadi Gaza) using bullets and tank shells," stated Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for the civil defense agency, to AFP. This occurred between 2:00 and 6:00 AM (23:00 GMT Monday and 3:00 GMT Tuesday).
Due to restrictions on media access in the Gaza Strip and difficulties on the ground, AFP is unable to independently verify the casualty figures and claims made by the civil defense.
"During the night, a gathering was identified in an area adjacent to Israeli soldiers' positions near the Netzarim junction," a military spokesperson told AFP.
"Reports of individuals injured from (Israeli) gunfire in the area have been received, and this is currently under review," they added.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an opaque funding entity supported by Israel and the United States, manages an aid distribution center in the area.
At the end of May, Israel slightly eased a total blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip since early March, which led to severe shortages of food, medicine, and other essential goods.
On Tuesday, the UN described the use of food as a weapon in Gaza as a "war crime," urging the Israeli army to "stop firing on individuals attempting to obtain it."
"Abomination"
"Using food for military purposes against civilians, coupled with restricting or preventing their access to vital services, constitutes a war crime," stated the UN human rights office.
The current distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza, overseen by the GHF and resulting in chaotic scenes, has also been condemned as "an abomination" by the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), whose organization has been banned in the Gaza Strip.
"The so-called newly created aid mechanism is an abomination that humiliates and degrades desperate people. It is a deadly trap, costing more lives than it saves," said Philippe Lazzarini during a press conference in Berlin.
The UN and humanitarian NGOs refuse to work with the GHF, citing concerns over its processes and neutrality.
According to the health ministry of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, 467 people have been killed and 3,600 injured from Israeli gunfire since the end of May while attempting to reach food aid distribution centers in Gaza.
On Tuesday morning, five more people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City, Mr. Bassal reported.
© Agence France-Presse
