
At least 30 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire while waiting for humanitarian aid in northern Gaza on Wednesday, according to the Hamas-run civil defence agency.
A Gaza civil defence spokesperson reported that Israeli fire wounded approximately 300 additional people. Israeli officials stated that details of the incident “are still being examined.”
The Israeli Defense Forces said they fired “warning shots” after Gazans gathered around aid trucks located 3km southwest of the Zikim crossing, but claimed they were “not aware of any casualties” from their gunfire.
Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, confirmed his facility received 35 bodies following the incident. The hospital later reported at least 48 Palestinians were killed, according to Associated Press reports.
In a separate incident Wednesday morning, Gaza hospital sources told the BBC that six Palestinians died near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution centre in Rafah. However, the GHF disputed this account, telling the BBC no killings occurred at or near its sites.
The IDF explained to the BBC that they instructed a “gathering of suspects” posing a threat to troops to move away, subsequently firing “warning shots” at a distance of “hundreds of metres away” from the distribution centre. The military also stated that “an initial review suggests that the number of casualties reported does not align with the information held by the IDF.”
According to UN human rights office data, over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military forces while attempting to access food aid since late May. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reports that more than 150 people have died from malnutrition since the Israel-Hamas war began in 2023, including 89 children.
This incident coincides with warnings from UN-backed global food security experts that the “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out” in Gaza, despite Israel’s announcement of “tactical pauses” in military operations to facilitate aid delivery.
Israel maintains it is not restricting aid entering Gaza, though some European nations and the UN reject these claims. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres recently declared that the “trickle of aid” into Gaza “must become an ocean,” stating that “food, water, medicine and fuel must flow in waves and without obstruction.”
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to travel to Israel on Thursday to discuss Gaza’s humanitarian situation. His visit follows Canada’s announcement joining France and the UK in plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, making it the third G7 nation to do so.
The Hamas-run health ministry reports that over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since October 2023, including 18,592 children and 9,782 women. Israel’s offensive began in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed approximately 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages being taken.
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