A minimum of 17 Palestinians were shot dead and dozens wounded on Tuesday when Israeli soldiers opened fire close to an aid distribution center run by a US-supported relief group in central Gaza, local health authorities reported.
The accident took place while thousands of Palestinian displaced persons accumulated near the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) compound at Wadi Gaza, in search of food and aid. Those who were wounded were transported to the Al-Awda Hospital at Nuseirat refugee camp and to Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City.
The Israeli army said it had indeed discharged warning shots at what they referred to as “suspects threatening” soldiers near the area. The army said the shots were discharged hundreds of meters away from where the aid camp was located and prior to when it opened officially. The army said the casualty figures reported by local health officials did not match their own.
The GHF, which is funded by the United States, issued a statement explaining that the incident occurred several hours before aid began to be distributed and beyond its operational zone. It directed further questions to the Israeli army.
The GHF has been operating a new model of aid delivery in Gaza since late May, which has been condemned by the United Nations for being non-neutral and non-biased. Regardless of the incident, the organization verified successful delivery of aid at three other sites in central and southern Gaza on the same day.
Israel’s army recently declared roads to GHF locations as closed military areas from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and asked Palestinians to avoid going there in those hours.
Philippe Lazzarini, director of the UNRWA, criticized the repeated violence around points of aid, terming the mechanism “humiliating” and unfair. “This continues to make thousands walk miles for aid, leaving the most vulnerable behind,” he tweeted on social media site X.
