Israeli tanks fired on Tuesday against a crowd that tried to obtain truck help in Gaza, killing at least 59 people, according to doctors, in one of the most bloody incidents so far in growing violence while desperate residents fight for food.
A shared video on social networks showed around a dozen shattered bodies thrown in a street in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army, at war with the Palestinian militants led by Hamas in Gaza since October 2023, acknowledged having fired in the area and said he was investigating the incident.
Witnesses interviewed by Reuters said that Israeli tanks had launched at least two projectiles against a multitude of thousands of people who had gathered on the main eastern road through Khan Younis in the hope of obtaining food from the help trucks that use the route.
“Suddenly, they let us go and made everyone gather, and then they began to fall projectiles, tank projectiles,” said Alaa, a witness, interviewed by Reuters at Nasser Hospital, where the victims wounded lay down lying on the ground and in the corridors due to the lack of space.
“No one looks at these people with mercy. People are dying, they are being shattered, to get food for their children. Look at these people, all these people are torn to get flour to feed their children.”
The Palestinian doctors said that at least 59 people died and 221 were injured in the incident, at least 20 of them in a critical condition. The victims were transferred to the hospital in civil cars, Rickshaws and cars thrown by donkeys. It was the worst number of dead in a single day since the help in Gaza resumed in May.
In a statement, the Israeli army said: “Today early, a meeting adjacent to an aid distribution truck that was stuck in the Khan Younis area was identified, and in the vicinity of the FDI troops that operate in the area.
“The IDF are aware of the reports on a number of people injured by the FDI’s shots after the crowd approached. The details of the incident are under review. The IDF regrets any damage to people not involved and operate to minimize the damage as much as possible for them, maintaining the safety of our troops.”
The doctors said that at least another 14 people also died from Israeli shots and air attacks in other parts of the densely populated enclave, which raised the total number of deaths on Tuesday to at least 73.
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Israel has been channeling much of the aid that now allows Gaza
The Ministry of Health said that 397 Palestinians, among those who tried to obtain food help, had died and more than 3,000 had been injured since the end of May.
The incident was the most recent of almost daily murders of Palestinians who sought help in the three weeks since Israel partially lifted a total blockade about the territory that had imposed for almost three months.
Israel has been channeling much of the aid that now allows Gaza through a new group backed by the United States and Israel, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces.
The United Nations reject the system because it is inadequate, dangerous and violation of humanitarian impartiality norms. Israel says it is necessary to prevent Hamas fighters from diverting help, something that Hamas denies.
Gaza authorities say that hundreds of Palestinians have died trying to reach the GHF sites.
The GHF said in a press release on Monday night that it had distributed more than three million meals in its four distribution sites without incident.
Gaza’s War was triggered in October 2023, when Palestinian militants of Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli allies. Israel’s subsequent military attack against Gaza has killed almost 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, while moving almost the entire population of 2.3 million and has caused a hunger crisis.
Since last week, the Palestinians of Gaza have remained attentive to the new air war between Israel and Iran, who for a long time has been an important supporter of Hamas.
Gaza residents have circulated images of buildings in Israel destroyed by Iranian missiles, some say they are happy to see Israelis experimenting a measure of fear of air attacks they have endured for 20 months.
With Reuters information.
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