At least 25 Palestinians are killed while heading to a Gaza aid hub, officials say
RAFAH, Gaza Strip, June 1, (AP): At least 25 people were killed and scores were wounded on Sunday as they were on their way to receive food in the Gaza Strip, according to health officials and multiple witnesses.
The witnesses said Israeli forces fired on crowds around a kilometer (1,000 yards) away from an aid site run by an Israeli-backed foundation. The army released a brief statement saying it was "currently unaware of injuries caused by (Israeli military) fire within the Humanitarian Aid distribution site.
The matter is still under review.' The foundation said in a statement that it delivered aid "without incident" early on Sunday and has denied previous accounts of chaos and gunfire around its sites, which are in Israeli military zones where independent access is limited.
Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the Gaza Health Ministry's records department, said at least 25 people were killed, including two women. Hours earlier, officials at a nearby field hospital run by the Red Cross said that at least 21 people were killed and another 175 were wounded, without saying who opened fire on them.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
An Associated Press reporter saw dozens of wounded people being treated at the hospital. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's distribution of aid has been marred by chaos, and multiple witnesses have said Israeli troops fired on crowds near the delivery sites.
Before Sunday, at least six people had been killed and more than 50 wounded according to local health officials. The foundation says the private security contractors guarding its sites have not fired on the crowds, while the Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots on previous occasions.
The foundation said in a statement that it distributed 16 truckloads of aid early Sunday "without incident,' and dismissed what it referred to as "false reporting about deaths, mass injuries and chaos.'
Thousands of people headed toward the distribution site hours before dawn. As they headed toward the site, Israeli forces ordered them to disperse and come back later, witnesses said. When the crowds reached the Flag Roundabout, around 1 kilometer (1,000 yards) away, at around 3 a.m., Israeli forces opened fire, the witnesses said.
"There was fire from all directions, from naval warships, from tanks and drones,' said Amr Abu Teiba, who was in the crowd. He said he saw at least 10 bodies with gunshot wounds and several other wounded people, including women. People used carts to ferry the dead and wounded to the field hospital.
"The scene was horrible," he said. Ibrahim Abu Saoud, another eyewitness, provided a nearly identical account. He said the military fired from about 300 meters (yards) away.
Abu Saoud said he saw many people with gunshot wounds, including a young man who he said had died at the scene. "We weren't able to help him,' he said. Mohammed Abu Teaima, 33, said he saw Israeli forces open fire and kill his cousin and another woman as they were heading toward the distribution site. He said his cousin was shot in his chest and died at the scene.
Many others were wounded, including his brother-in-law, he said. "They opened heavy fire directly toward us,' he said as he was waiting outside the Red Cross field hospital for word on his wounded relative.
The AP reporter arrived at the field hospital at around 6 a.m. and saw dozens of wounded, including women and children. The reporter also saw crowds of people returning from the distribution point.
Some were carrying boxes of aid but most appeared to be coming back empty-handed. Israel and the United States say the new system is aimed at preventing Hamas from siphoning off assistance.
Israel has not provided any evidence of systematic diversion, and the U.N. denies it has occurred. U.N. agencies and major aid groups have refused to work with the new system, saying it violates humanitarian principles because it allows Israel to control who receives aid and forces people to relocate to distribution sites, risking yet more mass displacement in the territory.
The U.N. system has struggled to bring in aid after Israel slightly eased its total blockade of the territory last month. Those groups say Israeli restrictions, the breakdown of law and order, and widespread looting make it extremely difficult to deliver aid to Gaza's roughly 2 million Palestinians.
Experts have warned that the territory is at risk of famine if more aid is not brought in.
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