Israeli troops open fire close to Gaza aid site, killing three, say officials
The military said it fired warning shots at 'suspects' who approached its forces in Rafah.
The shooting occurred at the same location where witnesses say Israeli forces fired a day earlier on crowds of people heading toward the aid hub in southern Gaza run by the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Palestinians with aid packages received from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)
The Israeli military said it fired warning shots on Monday towards 'several suspects who advanced toward the troops and posed a threat to them', around a kilometre away from the aid distribution site at a time when it was closed. The army denied it was preventing people from reaching the site.
The United Nations and major aid groups have rejected the foundation's new system for aid distribution. They say it violates humanitarian principles and cannot meet mounting needs in the territory of roughly two million people, where experts have warned of famine because of an Israeli blockade that was only slightly eased last month.
In a separate incident on Monday, an Israeli strike on a residential building in northern Gaza killed 14 people, according to health officials. The Shifa and al-Ahli hospitals confirmed the toll from the strike in the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp, saying five women and seven children were among those killed.
The military said it had struck 'terror targets' across northern Gaza, without elaborating. Israel says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militant group is entrenched in populated areas.
A Red Cross field hospital received 50 wounded people, including two declared dead on arrival, after the shooting in southern Gaza, according to Hisham Mhanna, a Red Cross spokesman. He said most had gunfire and shrapnel wounds. Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis said it received a third body.
On Sunday, at least 31 people were killed and more than 170 wounded as large crowds headed toward the aid site, according to local health officials, aid groups and several witnesses. The witnesses said Israeli forces opened fire on the crowds after ordering them to disperse and come back when the distribution site opened.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has denied accounts of chaos and gunfire around its sites (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)
Israel's military on Sunday denied its forces fired at civilians near the aid site in the now mostly uninhabited southern city of Rafah, a military zone off limits to independent media. An Israeli military official said troops fired warning shots at several suspects advancing toward them overnight.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has denied previous accounts of chaos and gunfire around its sites, said it had delivered aid on both days without incident.
On Sunday night, the foundation issued a statement, saying aid recipients must stay on the designated route to reach the hub on Monday, and that Israeli troops were positioned along the way to ensure their security. 'Leaving the road is extremely dangerous,' the statement said.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said he was 'appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in Gaza'.
'It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food,' he said in a statement. 'I call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable.'
Israel and the US say they helped establish the new aid system to circumvent Hamas, which they accuse of siphoning off assistance.
UN agencies deny there is any systemic diversion of aid and say the new system violates humanitarian principles by allowing Israel to control who receives aid and by forcing Palestinians to travel long distances to receive it.
Palestinians must pass close to Israeli forces and cross military lines to reach the GHF hubs, in contrast to the UN aid network, which delivers aid to where Palestinians are located.
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