Dozens of Palestinians in Gaza killed by airstrikes or shootings while waiting for aid
DEIR al-BALAH Gaza Strip AP Israeli airstrikes killed Palestinians in Gaza early Friday while a hospital disclosed another people died in shootings while seeking aid Meanwhile the U N human rights office says it has recorded Palestinians killed within the span of a month in Gaza while trying to obtain aid Most of were killed while trying to reach food distribution points run by an Israeli-backed American organization while others were massed waiting for aid trucks connected to the United Nations or other humanitarian organizations it declared Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani noted the rights office was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings But she declared it is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation In a message to The Associated Press Shamdasani noted that of the total tallied killings were GHF-related meaning at or near its distribution sites Information keeps coming in she added This is ongoing and it is unacceptable The GHF has denied any serious injuries or deaths on its sites and says shootings outside their immediate vicinity are under the purview of Israel s military In a comment Friday GHF cast doubt on the casualty figures and accused the U N of trying to falsely smear our effort The army says it fires warnings shots as a crowd control measure or opens fire if its troops are threatened The Israeli military also issued new evacuation orders Friday in northeast Khan Younis in southern Gaza and urged Palestinians to move west ahead of planned military operations against Hamas in the area The new evacuation zones pushed Palestinians into increasingly smaller spaces by the coast killed Friday while seeking aid Since GHF began distributions in late May bystanders have stated almost daily that Israeli troops open fire toward crowds of Palestinians on the roads leading to the food centers To reach the sites people must walk several kilometers miles through an Israeli military zone where troops control the road Authorities at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis revealed at least three Palestinians were killed Friday on the way to GHF sites in the area of Rafah in southern Gaza On Friday in reaction to the U N record the Israeli military declared it was assessing reports of people killed and wounded while seeking aid and that it had given instructions to troops in the field based on lessons learned from reviewing the incidents It reported it was working at minimizing feasible friction between the population and Israeli forces including by installing fences and placing signs on the routes Separately eyewitnesses have announced Israeli troops open fire on crowds of Palestinians who gather in military-controlled zones to wait for aid trucks entering Gaza for the U N or other aid organizations not associated with GHF The crowds are usually made up of people desperate for food who grab supplies off the passing trucks and armed gangs have also looted trucks On Friday people were killed waiting for trucks in eastern Khan Younis in the Tahliya area authorities at Nasser Hospital revealed Three survivors notified the AP they had gone to wait for the trucks in a military red zone in Khan Younis and that troops opened fire from a tank and drones It was a crowd of people may God help them who want to eat and live commented Seddiq Abu Farhana who was shot in the leg forcing him to drop a bag of flour he had grabbed There was direct firing Airstrikes also hit the Muwasi area on the southern end of Gaza s Mediterranean coast where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes are sheltering in tent camps Of the people killed in the strikes eight were women and one was a child according to the hospital Israel s military commented it was looking into Friday s disclosed airstrikes It had no immediate comment on the broadcasted shootings surrounding the aid trucks U N investigates shootings near aid sites In its announcement reacting to the U N rights office account GHF accused the U N of taking its casualty figures directly from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Wellbeing Ministry and of promoting Hamas false propaganda Shamdasani the U N rights office spokesperson communicated the AP that the figures is based on our own information gathering through various reliable sources including physiological human rights and humanitarian organizations Rik Peeperkorn representative of the World Soundness Organization declared Nasser Hospital the biggest hospital operating in the south receives dozens or hundreds of casualties every day the bulk coming from the vicinity of the food distribution sites The overwhelmed hospital has become one massive trauma ward he commented The WHO supports Nasser Hospital and other medical facilities The International Committee of the Red Cross also mentioned in late June that its field hospital near one of the GHF sites has been overwhelmed more than times in the previous months by mass casualties It stated the casualties had been on their way to the food distribution sites and the vast majority of patients suffered gunshot injuries Also on Friday Israel s military explained two soldiers were killed in combat in the north of Gaza and it was scrutinizing Over Israeli soldiers have been killed since the war began including more than during the fighting in Gaza Efforts ongoing to halt to war The current killings took place as efforts to halt the -month war appeared to be moving forward We ll see what happens We re going to know over the next hours U S President Donald Trump explained reporters on Air Force One late Thursday when appealed if Hamas had agreed to the latest framework for a ceasefire Hamas announced Friday that it was holding discussions with leaders of other Palestinian factions to discuss a ceasefire proposal presented to it by Egyptian and Qatari mediators Hamas revealed it will give its final response to mediators after the discussions have concluded Trump stated Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a -day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen The Vitality Ministry in Gaza revealed the number of Palestinians killed in the territory has passed The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but says more than half of the dead are women and children The ministry is run by clinical professionals employed by the Hamas administration and its numbers are widely cited by the U N and international organizations The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel killing people and taking roughly hostages Kullab shared from Jerusalem Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten informed from Geneva and AP writer Julia Frankel contributed Source
