Israeli gunfire kills 17 people near Gaza aid site, say health officials
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People carrying relief supplies from an aid distribution site of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on June 8.
PHOTO: AFP
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CAIRO – Israeli gunfire killed at least 17 Palestinians and wounded dozens of others as thousands of displaced people approached an aid distribution site of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in central Gaza on June 10, local health authorities said.
Medics said the casualties were rushed to two hospitals, the Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza and the Al-Quds in Gaza City, in the north.
The Israeli military said its forces fired warning shots at “suspects who were advancing in the area of Wadi Gaza and posed a threat to the troops”.
It added that it was aware of reports that several were injured, but argued numbers released by local health authorities did not align with the information they collected.
“The warning shots were fired hundreds of metres from the aid distribution site, prior to its opening hours and towards the suspects who posed a threat to the troops,” the military added.
Last week, it warned Palestinians not to approach routes leading to GHF sites between 6pm and 6am local time, describing these roads as closed military zones.
There was no immediate comment from GHF on the June 10 incident.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May
But 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 had run out in five minutes, this is insane and isn’t enough,” said Mr 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 20km, only to come back home with disappointment,” he told Reuters via a chat app. He said he heard the firing but did not see what happened.
Later on June 10, local health authorities said an Israeli strike on a house in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip killed eight people, taking the death toll on June 10 to at least 25.
The Israeli military said, separately, that it intercepted one rocket fired from northern Gaza towards Israeli territories, which signalled Hamas and other militant groups remained able to fire the weapons despite Israeli devastation of their arsenal.
Israel allowed limited UN-led operations to resume on May 19 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 Oct 7, 2023, attack
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. REUTERS
