GazaHerald – In the early hours of Saturday morning, Israeli occupation forces killed and injured dozens of Palestinians who had gathered close to the so-called aid distribution center in the southern Gaza Strip.
Medical sources at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis confirmed that 32 people were killed after Israeli forces targeted a crowd waiting for humanitarian assistance near an aid center north of Rafah. The center is operated by the US-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Witnesses and Palestinian sources said that dozens more were wounded, including aid workers and children. Gruesome images circulated by Palestinian media showed lifeless bodies and severely injured civilians being rushed to the Nasser hospital, as overwhelmed medical staff tried to cope with the influx of casualties.
This latest massacre comes just a day after the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that 26 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops and foreign mercenaries contracted through a U.S. security company. The ministry noted that since the implementation of the U.S.-Israeli aid control plan in May, Israeli forces have killed 877 Palestinians and injured over 5,600 others at or near aid centers across the Strip.
Death Traps
The Gaza Health Ministry and humanitarian observers have repeatedly warned that aid distribution points have become death traps for Palestinians. Saturday’s attack adds to a growing toll of civilians killed while waiting for food and water amid a devastating siege and man-made famine.
Throughout the day, Israeli bombardment of Gaza grew more intense. Six displaced Palestinians were killed and several others wounded when Israeli artillery hit a tent near Al-Taba’in School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City.
Israeli drones also targeted homes in the Sheikh Radwan area, while multiple airstrikes hit central and eastern neighborhoods of Gaza City. In Jabalia, in the north of the Strip, two civilians were killed in another Israeli strike, according to local sources.
In Khan Yunis, a drone strike on a tent sheltering displaced people killed one Palestinian and injured others. Further north in the central region of the Strip, three civilians were wounded when a drone dropped a bomb on a group in Al-Maghraqa. Israeli artillery also shelled the Al-Bureij refugee camp this morning.
Friday’s toll stood at 47 Palestinians killed, including 10 humanitarian aid workers, in a day of relentless attacks that have spared neither civilians nor those trying to help them.
