Key points
- Over 100 Palestinians wounded near two aid distribution sites
- War has caused severe shortages of food and essentials in Gaza
- 875 Palestinians killed in Gaza while trying to get food: UN
ISLAMABAD: At least 41 Palestinians, including those near food aid site in Rafah, were killed in Israeli attacks on Saturday, according to Al Jazeera.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are on the “verge of catastrophic hunger” with one in three people in the enclave not eating for days at a time.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s civil defence agency on Saturday said Israeli attacks killed 26 Palestinians and wounded more than 100 near two aid centres in the south of the Palestinian territory, according to AFP.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Basal told AFP that 22 were killed near a site southwest of Khan Yunis and four near another centre northwest of Rafah, blaming “Israeli gunfire” for both.
One eyewitness said he headed to the Al-Tina area of Khan Yunis before dawn with five of his relatives to try to get food when “Israeli soldiers” started shooting.
“Bullets and exhaustion”
“My relatives and I were unable to get anything,” Abdul Aziz Abed, 37, told AFP. “Every day I go there and all we get is bullets and exhaustion instead of food.”
The Israeli military said it was “looking into” the claims when contacted by AFP.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the agency and other parties.
The war in Gaza has created dire humanitarian conditions for the local population.
The more than two million people who live in the densely populated coastal territory are facing severe shortages of food and other essentials, and doctors have reported a spike in acute malnutrition.
A regular occurrence
Deaths of people waiting for handouts in huge crowds near aid distribution centres have become a regular occurrence, with the Palestinian authorities blaming Israeli fire.
The civil defence agency reported that nine Palestinians were shot and killed near the same aid point in the Al-Shakoush area northwest of Rafah on Friday.
The US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which took over the running of aid distribution in late May, said 20 people died in Khan Yunis on Wednesday.
But it blamed “agitators in the crowd… armed and affiliated with Hamas” for creating “a chaotic and dangerous surge” and firing at aid-seekers.
Over 870 Palestinians killed
The previous day, the UN said it had recorded 875 Palestinians killed in Gaza while trying to get food, including 674 “in the vicinity of GHF sites”, since it began operating.
