31 reportedly shot dead near aid centre in Rafah, Gaza officials claim

New Straits Times

2 days ago

RAFAH, Palestinian Territories: Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli gunfire killed at least 31 Palestinians near a US-backed aid distribution site on Sunday, with the group in charge of the site denying any such incident took place.
Israel has faced growing condemnation over the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where the United Nations has warned the entire population faces the risk of famine after no aid was allowed to enter for more than two months.
Israel recently eased its blockade and introduced a revamped aid mechanism in cooperation with a newly formed US-backed organisation, bypassing the longstanding UN-led system.
The organisation, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), says it has distributed millions of meals since operations began last week, but the rollout has been marked by chaotic scenes at the limited number of distribution centres, as well as reports of casualties from Israeli fire nearby.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that "31 people were killed and more than 176 injured... after Israeli gunfire targeted thousands of civilians near the American aid centre in Rafah", in southern Gaza.
AFP images showed Palestinians transporting bodies on donkey carts near the aid point as others carried away boxes and bags of supplies under the early-morning sun.
Abdullah Barbakh, a 58-year-old Palestinian man, described "chaos, screaming and overcrowding" at the site.
"The army opened fire from drones and tanks," he said. "I don't understand why they call people to the aid centres and then open fire on them."
Near another GHF aid centre in central Gaza, AFP images showed rescuers evacuating injured people. Bassal reported one dead and dozens wounded there, again blaming Israeli fire.
The Israeli military said it was "unaware of injuries" caused by its fire at the Rafah aid centre, while a GHF spokesperson said the reports were "untrue and fabricated."
"All aid was distributed today without incident," the spokesperson said, adding that "these fake reports have been actively fomented by Hamas."
Sameh Hamuda, a displaced 33-year-old from northern Gaza, told AFP he had walked from Gaza City and spent the night with relatives near Rafah before heading to the aid centre around 5am to wait among a crowd of people.
"Suddenly quadcopter drones opened fire on the people, and tanks started shooting heavily. Several people were killed right in front of me," he said.
"I ran and survived. Death follows you as long as you're in Gaza."
At Al-Awda hospital in central Gaza, Umm Muhammad Abu Khousa said her son was among those wounded near the other aid centre in Bureij.
"You feed me and then you kill me?" she said from her son's bedside.
Calling for an end to the war, she told AFP Gazans "want our children to live as they were before, and for my son to go to school and come back home and find a plate of lentils."
Victoria Rose – a British surgeon visiting Nasser Hospital where many of the patients from Rafah were taken – described a scene of "absolute carnage" at the facility, saying "all the bays are full, and they're all gunshot wounds."
"The ambulances haven't stopped coming through the doors," she added in a video message from the hospital.
Only limited amounts of aid have entered Gaza since Israel eased its total blockade that began in March.
On Friday a spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency called Gaza "the hungriest place on earth."
GHF, which employs contracted US security, said on Sunday that it had distributed more than 4.7 million meals' worth of food so far.
The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the organisation, saying it contravened basic humanitarian principles and appeared designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, said on Sunday that Gaza "aid distribution has become a death trap."
"Aid deliveries and distribution must be at scale and safe," he added in a post on X. "In Gaza, this can be done only through the United Nations including UNRWA."
Nearly 20 months into the war, negotiations for a ceasefire and a deal to free the hostages still held by fighters have failed to produce a breakthrough.
Since the last brief truce collapsed in March, Israel has intensified its operations to destroy Hamas, the Palestinian group whose Oct 7, 2023 attack triggered the war.
Hamas said on Saturday it had responded positively to the latest US-backed truce proposal, but US envoy Steve Witkoff criticised the response as "totally unacceptable", an assessment echoed by Israel.
Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mardawi said Sunday that the "amendments we requested are identical... to what had been previously agreed upon with the American mediator."
Witkoff had urged the group to "accept the framework proposal we put forward."
On Sunday, Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had told the army "to continue forward in Gaza against all targets, regardless of any negotiations", adding: "Either Hamas releases the hostages, or it will be destroyed."
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 4,149 people have been killed in the territory since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 54,418, mostly civilians.
Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.--AFP