30 Palestinians killed while heading to Gaza aid hub

At least 30 Palestinians were killed and over 115 others wounded Sunday morning in a new massacre committed by Israeli occupation forces near an aid distribution centre west of Rafah in southern Gaza, Palestinian News & Information Agency (WAFA) reported on Sunday.

The witnesses said Israeli forces fired on crowds around a kilometre (1,000 yards) from an aid site run by an Israeli-backed foundation.

Israel's military campaign has killed over 54,000 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants.

The offensive has destroyed vast areas of the territory, displaced around 90% of its population and left people almost completely reliant on international aid.

The military did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 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.

Palestinian Maha Elayan weeps as she embraces the body of her 7-year-old son, Qasim, who was killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on a UN school used as a shelter, ahead of his burial at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip. AP

Officials at the field hospital said at least 21 people were killed and another 175 people were wounded, without saying who opened fire on them. An Associated Press reporter saw dozens of 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.

A paramedic carries a Palestinian man wounded in an Israeli strike, at Nasser Hospital, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Sunday. Reuters

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, congregating at the Flag Roundabout, about a kilometer (1,000 yards) away, as they waited for the site to open, according to witnesses. They said Israeli forces ordered people to disperse and come back later - before opening fire.

"There was fire from all directions, from naval warships, from tanks and drones,” said Amr Abu Teiba, who was in the crowd.

A youth carries an empty box of relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private US-backed aid group that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory, as displaced Palestinians walk near a food distribution centre in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday. AFP

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 around 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.

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 UN denies it has occurred.

Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip. AP

UN 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 UN 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.

The war began when Hamas-led fighters stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. They are still holding 58 hostages, around a third of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Agencies