By Samy Magdy and WAFAA Shurufa
Gaza Strip’s DEIR AL-BALAH (AP) Witnesses and local health officials reported that dozens of Palestinians were killed or injured Monday as frantic crowds made their way to food distribution centers and supplies dropped by air in the Gaza Strip.
Nearly 22 months into the battle with Hamas, Israel’s embargo and military offensive have made it nearly impossible to safely transport supplies, which has contributed to the territory’s decline toward starvation. help organizations claim that Israel’s recent actions to increase help are far from enough. Families of hostages in Gaza believe that they are also impacted by famine, but they blame Hamas.
The European Union, Canada, and the United States have all classified Hamas as a terrorist group.
According to witnesses, local health officials, and the UN human rights office, Israeli fire has killed hundreds of Palestinians since May as they were traveling toward food distribution facilities and assistance convoys. The military disputes the toll and claims it has only fired warning shots.
A number of nations have airdropped aid over Gaza as global outrage has grown. Such drops, according to the U.N. and aid organizations, are expensive and risky for locals and provide significantly less aid than vehicles.
Israel’s military has warned residents to leave areas known as “red zones,” where numerous food packages delivered by plane have landed or smashed into the Mediterranean Sea. Palestinians put their lives in danger to obtain flour and other necessities in either scenario.
Pallets of assistance were parachuted over Zuweida in central Gaza on Monday, to cheers from Palestinians. Hundreds of people raced toward the packages as they struck the ground, causing a chaotic rush captured on Associated Press camera. Some men brandished batons, and fistfights broke out.
When Rabah Rabah was waiting for the airdrop earlier, he added, “I wish they would deliver it through the (land) crossings.” This is not human.
A guy was hurt and brought to a hospital after at least one package fell on a tent where displaced people had been taking refuge. It was not immediately clear what his condition was.
Records at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City indicate that at least 16 Palestinians were murdered late Sunday at the Israeli-controlled Zikim Crossing, the primary entry point for aid into northern Gaza, while over 130 others were injured.
Although the circumstances were unclear at the time, witnesses and medical officials blamed Israeli soldiers for multiple shootings that have occurred at the crossing in recent days. The military did not immediately comment.
The Israeli force created the Morag Corridor between the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, where thousands of civilians waited for assistance shipments, resulting in at least ten fatalities.
One of the crowds, Mohammed al-Masri, claimed that when a group of young men attempted to advance to the front, Israeli forces opened fire. He claimed to have seen four wounded individuals, one of whom was still on the ground, and that the occupation soldiers had shot other people in the head and back.
Morag and five other people were killed close to an aid station in southern Gaza operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American contractor with Israeli support, according to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
According to GHF, no violent occurrences occurred at or close to its locations. It stated a new U.N. route has attracted sizable crowds of people who unload the convoys near two of its locations in the south. Since opening four sites in May, GHF claims that its contractors have only sometimes employed warning shots or pepper spray to stop fatal crowding.
The bodies of eight persons murdered near a GHF site in the Israeli-controlled Netzarim Corridor were delivered to Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza, while 50 others were injured, according to the hospital. Health officials and witnesses reported that Israeli forces had opened fire on the demonstrators.
While others carried bags of food, an Associated Press photo showed a man dragging a body away from the scene.
Ayman Ruqab, a young Palestinian, claimed that after three days of fruitless attempts to get to the location, it feels like yesterday and the day before. It’s a death trap.
Without providing further details, the Israeli military claimed that it fired warning shots at anyone who approached in a way that threatened the forces. “I am not aware of any casualties,” it said.
Hamas-led terrorists carried out the strike that started the war on October 7, 2023, killing almost 1,200 persons, primarily civilians, and kidnapping 251. The majority of the remaining captives were freed in ceasefires or other agreements, but they currently hold 50, of whom about 20 are thought to be alive.
The Health Ministry of Gaza reports that over 60,900 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory military offensive. Medical personnel work for the ministry, which claims that women and children have made up almost half of the deceased but does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in its count. Its estimates are considered the most accurate casualty count by the U.N. and other independent analysts.
Israel has denied the numbers but hasn’t offered any of its own.
Magdy was in Cairo reporting.
