22 Palestinians killed in Gaza as Israeli forces fire on crowds at food aid sites, medics say
CAIRO (AP) — Israeli forces killed at least 22 people and wounded 20 others, many while attempting to get desperately needed food aid in southern Gaza on Monday, according to witnesses, hospitals, and Gaza's Health Ministry.
Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said it received the bodies of 11 people who were shot while returning from an aid site associated with Israeli and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund in southern Gaza, part of a deadly pattern that has killed more than 500 Palestinians in the chaotic and controversial aid distribution program over the past month. Ten others were killed at a United Nations aid warehouse in northern Gaza, according to the Health Ministry.
The southern Gaza strike happened around 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the GHF site in the city of Khan Younis, as Palestinians returned from the site along one of the only accessible routes. Palestinians are often forced to travel long distances to access the GHF hubs in hopes of obtaining aid.
Yousef Mahmoud Mokheimar was walking along with dozens others when he saw troops in vehicles and tanks racing toward them. At the beginning they fired warning shots in air, before firing at the crowds, he said.
'They fired at us indiscriminately,' he said, adding that he was shot in his leg, and a man was also shot while attempting to rescue him.
He said he saw troops detaining six people, including three children, and it wasn't clear what happened to them. 'We don't know whether they are still alive,' he said.
Monzer Hisham Ismail, another witness, said troops attacked the crowds while returning from the GHF hub in eastern Khan Younis.
'We were returning from the American aid hub … we were targeted by (the Israeli) artillery,' he said.
Nasser Hospital said another person was killed near a GHF hub in the southern city of Rafah.
The Israeli military said it was reviewing information about the attacks. In the past, the military has said it fires warning shots at people who move suspiciously or get too close to troops, including while collecting aid.
Israel wants the GHF to replace a system coordinated by the United Nations and international aid groups. Along with the United States, Israel has accused the militant Hamas group of stealing aid and using it to prop up its rule in the enclave. The U.N. denies there is systematic diversion of aid.
The Israeli military said it had recently taken steps to improve organization in the area, including the installation of new fencing, signage and the opening of additional routes to access aid.
Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of hiding among civilians because they operate in populated areas.
In northern Gaza, at least 10 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on an aid warehouse in Gaza City, according to the Health Ministry's ambulance and emergency service. It wasn't immediately clear whether there was aid at the warehouse.
The strike in Gaza City came as the military intensified its bombardment campaign across the city and the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp. On Sunday and Monday, Israel issued widespread evacuation orders for large swaths of northern Gaza.
Palestinians reported massive bombing overnight into Monday morning, describing the fresh attacks as a 'scorched earth' campaign that targeted mostly empty buildings and civilian infrastructure above the ground.
'They destroy whatever left standing … the sound of bombing hasn't stopped,' said Mohamed Mahdy, a Gaza City resident who fled his damaged house Monday morning.
Fares Awad, head of the Health Ministry's emergency and ambulance services in northern Gaza, said that most of Gaza City and Jabaliya have become inaccessible and ambulances were unable to respond to distress calls from people trapped in the rubble.
The Israeli military said it had taken multiple steps to notify civilians of operations to target Hamas' military command and control centers in northern Gaza.
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Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.
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Follow the AP's war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
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