Israeli tanks kill 59 people in Gaza crowd trying to get food aid, medics say
In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said: "Earlier today, a gathering was identified adjacent to an aid distribution truck that got stuck in the area of Khan Younis, and in proximity to IDF troops operating in the area.
"The IDF is aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals from IDF fire after the crowd's approach. The details of the incident are under review. The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimise harm as much as possible to them while maintaining the safety of our troops."
Medics said at least 14 other people were also killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes elsewhere in the densely populated enclave, taking Tuesday's overall death toll to at least 73.
The health ministry said 397 Palestinians, among those trying to get food aid, had been killed and more than 3,000 were wounded since late May.
The incident was the latest in nearly daily large-scale killings of Palestinians seeking aid in the three weeks since Israel partially lifted a total blockade on the territory it had imposed for nearly three months.
Israel has been channelling much of the aid it is allowing into Gaza through a new US- and Israeli-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces.
"The incident in question did not occur at a GHF site, but rather near a UN World Food Programme location," the foundation said about the incident on Tuesday.
The UN rejects the GHF delivery system as inadequate, dangerous and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules. Israel said it is needed to prevent Hamas fighters from diverting aid, which Hamas denied.
Gaza authorities said hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to reach GHF sites.
The GHF said in a press release on Monday it had distributed more than three million meals at its four distribution sites without incident. The Gaza war was triggered in October 2023 when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, while displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3-million and causing a hunger crisis. Since last week, Gaza Palestinians have kept an eye on the new air war between Israel and Iran, which has long been a major supporter of Hamas.
Gaza residents have circulated images of buildings in Israel wrecked by Iranian missiles, some saying they are happy to see Israelis experiencing a measure of the fear of airstrikes that they have endured for 20 months.
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