Gaza health authorities say Israel kills 44 waiting for aid as war's death toll passes 56,000
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In central Gaza, three witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces opened fire as people advanced east toward aid trucks south of Wadi Gaza.
'It was a massacre,' said Ahmed Halawa. He said tanks and drones fired at people, 'even as we were fleeing. Many people were either martyred or wounded.'
Hossam Abu Shahada said drones were flying over the area, watching the crowds, then there was gunfire from tanks and drones as people were moving eastward. He described a 'chaotic and bloody' scene as people tried to escape.
He said he saw at least three people lying motionless and many others wounded.
Mourners prayed over the body of a person killed a day earlier while attempting to get aid at a distribution point near the Israeli-controlled Zikim border crossing, at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday.
OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images
Israel's military said it was reviewing the incident, which took place near the Netzarim corridor, a road that separates northern and southern Gaza.
The Awda hospital in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp, which received the victims, confirmed 25 deaths and said 146 others were wounded. It said 62 were in critical condition and transferred to other hospitals.
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In the central town of Deir al-Balah, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital said it received the bodies of six people from the same incident.
In the southernmost city of Rafah, witnesses said Israeli troops opened fire as crowds tried to reach another food distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
At least 19 were killed and 50 others wounded, according to Nasser hospital and Gaza's Health Ministry.
Two witnesses said Israeli troops started firing as thousands of Palestinians massed at the Shakoush area, several hundred meters (yards) from the distribution site.
The Israeli military did not immediately return a request for comment.
Salem Ismail was in the crowd and was shot in a leg. He said he saw forces firing towards the crowd who were moving north toward the site.
Ayman Abu Joda said he saw heavy gunfire from Israeli tanks and that many people were shot. He said he helped evacuate three wounded people, one hit in the chest and two in the legs.
'It was the same tragedy every day: We seek food and the occupation opens fire and kills many,' he said.
The casualty toll was confirmed to The Associated Press by Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the Health Ministry's records department.
The GHF said on social media its hub there opened Tuesday at 10 a.m. and closed after finishing food distribution. It called on people not to head to the hub.
Displaced Palestinians stay at a tent camp in Gaza City, pictured on Monday.
Jehad Alshrafi/Associated Press
Israel wants the GHF to replace a system coordinated by the United Nations and international aid groups. Along with the United States, it accuses Hamas of stealing aid, without offering evidence. The U.N. denies there is systematic diversion of aid.
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The GHF sites are in Israeli military zones where independent media have no access.
Death toll in Gaza over 56,000
Meanwhile, Gaza's Health Ministry said Israel's 21-month military operation in Gaza has killed 56,077 people. The war was sparked by Hamas' surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed around 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians, and took 251 others hostage. Many have been released by ceasefire or other agreements.
The death toll is by far the highest in any round of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.
The ministry said the dead include 5,759 who have been killed since Israel resumed fighting on March 18, shattering a two-month ceasefire.
The ministry doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants but says more than half of the dead were women and children.
Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, which operates in heavily populated areas. Israel says over 20,000 Hamas militants have been killed, though it has provided no evidence to support that claim. Hamas has not commented on its casualties.
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GIMPO, South Korea (AP) — Prisoners of war held for decades after the fighting stopped. Civilian abductees. Defectors. Separated families. They are Koreans who symbolize the decades of division and bitter animosities between North and South Korea, which have been split by a heavily fortified border since the the 1950-53 Korean War. Koreans aren't allowed to exchange visits, phone calls or letters with their loved ones on the other side. Wednesday is the 75th anniversary of the war's beginning. The Associated Press spoke with Koreans whose pain and sorrow likely won't be healed anytime soon as diplomacy between the Koreas remains dormant. South Korean prisoner of war isolated after his return home Lee Seon-wu, who was a South Korean soldier, lost three fingers and was captured by Chinese troops during a fierce battle in the eastern Gangwon province in the final days of the war. Like tens of thousands of other South Korean prisoners, Lee was held by North Korea even after a peace treaty ended the fighting. He was forced to resettle as a miner in the country's remote northeast. In North Korea, Lee said he belonged to the lowest social class and married a poor woman. He also lived under constant state surveillance. In 2006, he fled to South Korea via China, only to learn that his parents and two of his three siblings had already died. Lee said he was shunned by his nephew, who likely worried Lee would demand the return of land that was originally bought with compensation money that authorities gave to his family after they wrongly concluded that Lee had died in the war. Now 94, he doesn't stay in touch with any relatives in South Korea and misses family members in North Korea. Lee said his three daughters in North Korea rejected his offer to flee to South Korea because they feared punishment if caught. 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I harbor ill feeling against the South Korean government because I think they've abandoned POWs left in North Korea,' Son said. 'I think deceased POWs also have honors to be respected so their compensation must be provided posthumously.' South Korean son flies balloons for his father abducted to North In 1967, when Choi Sung-Yong was 15, his father was abducted by North Korean agents, whose armed vessels encircled his fishing boat near the Koreas' disputed western sea boundary. Choi said that South Korean officials and a North Korean defector told him that his father was executed in the early 1970s after North Korean interrogators uncovered his wartime service for a U.S. intelligence military unit. Choi said his family still doesn't hold an annual traditional memorial service for his father because they don't know exactly when he died. He said before his mother died in 2005, she asked him to bring his father's remains and bury them alongside hers in the future. 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South Korean hoping to meet his North Korean half-siblings When Kang Min-do's family gathered for major traditional holidays, he said his North Korea-born father often wept quietly when he honored the two other children he lost during the chaos of the Korean War. Kang, who was born to a woman his father remarried in South Korea, said his father told him bombings, likely from U.S. warplanes, scattered his family somewhere near Pyongyang in January 1951 as they were fleeing to South Korea. 'My father said he tried to search for them after the bombing ended, but bodies were piled so high and he just couldn't find anyone,' Kang, 67, said. Before he died in 1992, Kang's father hoped that his son would find his half-siblings one day to tell them how much their father missed them. In a video message posted on a South Korean government website, Kang expressed hopes of visiting his father's grave with his half-brother and half-sister when the Koreas are united. 'I need to tell them how much our father struggled after coming to the South and how deeply he missed his older son and daughter,' Kang said. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
