Israeli forces open fire a kilometer away from Gaza aid site, killing 3, health officials say

Indian Express

2 days ago

Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip opened fire early Monday as people headed toward an aid distribution site a kilometer away, killing at least three and wounding dozens, health officials and a witness said. The military said it fired warning shots at 'suspects' who approached its forces.
The shooting occurred at the same location where witnesses say Israeli forces fired a day earlier on crowds heading toward the aid hub in southern Gaza run by the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
The Israeli military said it fired warning shots on Monday toward 'several suspects who advanced toward the troops and posed a threat to them,' around a kilometer (1,000 yards) 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 2 million people, where experts have warned of famine because of an Israeli blockade that was only slightly eased last month.
In a separate incident 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.
Also Monday, the Palestinian Authority said a 14-year-old boy was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank in the Palestinian village of Sinjil. In a statement, the Israeli military said troops in the Sinjil area had opened fire and 'neutralized' someone who threw two bottles containing a dangerous substance at them.
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 spokesperson. He said most had gunfire and shrapnel wounds. Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis said it received a third body.
Moataz al-Feirani, 21, who was being treated at Nasser Hospital, said he was shot in his leg as he walked with a crowd of thousands toward the aid distribution site. He said Israeli forces opened fire as they neared the Flag Roundabout at around 5:30 a.m.
'We had nothing, and they (military) were watching us,' he said, adding that drones were filming them.
On Sunday, at least 31 people were killed and over 170 wounded at the Flag Roundabout as large crowds headed toward the aid site, according to local health officials, aid groups and several eyewitnesses. The witnesses said Israeli forces opened fire on the crowds at around 3 a.m. after ordering them to disperse and come back when the distribution site opens.
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, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with procedure, 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 Monday, and that Israeli troops are positioned along the way to ensure their security. 'Leaving the road is extremely dangerous,' the statement said.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was 'appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in Gaza' on Sunday. 'It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food.'
He called for an independent investigation into what happened.
Israel and the United States say they helped establish the new aid system to circumvent Hamas, which they accuse of siphoning off assistance.
U.N. 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 U.N. aid network, which delivers aid to where Palestinians are located.
The Israel-Hamas war began when Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Hamas is still holding 58 hostages, around a third of them believed to be alive.
Israel's military campaign has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. The ministry is led by medical professionals but reports to the Hamas-run government. Its toll is seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts, though Israel has challenged its numbers.
Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli pullout.
Israel has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned, and Hamas is defeated or disarmed and sent into exile. It has said it will maintain control of Gaza indefinitely and facilitate what it refers to as the voluntary emigration of much of its population.
Palestinians and most of the international community have rejected the resettlement plans, viewing them as forcible expulsion.