At least 16 Gazans killed in Israeli strikes as US-backed group pauses humanitarian aid
The civil defence agency in Gaza said an Israeli strike on a tent housing displaced Palestinians near the southern city of Khan Younis on Wednesday killed at least 12 people.
"At least 12 people were killed, including several children and women, in a strike by an Israeli drone this morning on a tent for displaced persons" near Khan Younis, the agency's spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding that four more people had been killed in other strikes.
The Israeli army did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
The fresh wave of strikes came as a controversial US-backed agency said that aid centres in the hunger-wracked territory will temporarily close on Wednesday after dozens of people were shot dead by Israeli troops while trying to receive humanitarian aid.
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Twenty-seven people were killed in southern Gaza on Tuesday when Israeli troops opened fire near one of the centres operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). At least 31 people were killed and scores were wounded by Israeli gunfire in a previous incident on Sunday, according to the enclave's health ministry.
Israel recently eased its blockade of the Palestinian enclave, but the UN has said the entire population remains at risk of famine.
The UN Security Council will vote Wednesday on a resolution calling for a ceasefire and humanitarian access to Gaza, a measure expected to be vetoed by the United States.
The GHF said its "distribution centres will be closed for renovation, reorganisation and efficiency improvement work" on Wednesday and would resume operations on Thursday.
The Israeli army, which confirmed the temporary closure, warned against travelling "on roads leading to the distribution centres, which are considered combat zones".
The GHF, officially a private effort with opaque funding, began operations a week ago but the UN and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with it over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
Following Tuesday's deadly incident near one of GHF's centres, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres decried the killing of Palestinians seeking food aid as "unacceptable".
Israeli authorities and the GHF – which uses contracted US security – have denied allegations that the Israeli army shot at civilians rushing to pick up aid packages at GHF sites. The Israeli army has said the incident is under investigation.
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