GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (BN24) — At least 59 Palestinians were reported killed Thursday after Israeli forces opened fire near an aid distribution center in southern Gaza and launched additional strikes across the besieged territory, according to health officials and humanitarian organizations.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah received dozens of dead and wounded after gunfire erupted near a food distribution site. In a statement, the Red Cross said 25 people were declared dead on arrival and six more died soon after being admitted.
Another 132 people were treated for “weapon-related injuries,” the group said, calling it the largest influx of fatalities the hospital has recorded since it began operating in May last year.
“The overwhelming majority of these patients sustained gunshot wounds, and all responsive individuals reported they were attempting to access food distribution sites,” the Red Cross said.
The Israel Defense Forces said troops in the Rafah area identified “several suspects” approaching their positions hundreds of meters from the aid center and fired what it described as warning shots.
“The suspects posed a threat to the troops,” the military said in a statement. “IDF troops operated in order to prevent the suspects from approaching them and fired warning shots. We are not aware of injured individuals as a result.”
But local witnesses and health workers described scenes of chaos and devastation as crowds gathered for flour and other staples.
Somia Alshaar, a resident of Rafah, told Sky News her teenage son Nasir was shot and killed when he went to collect food.
“He went to get us tahini so we could eat,” she said. “He told me, ‘Mama, we don’t have tahini. Today I’ll bring you flour. Even if it kills me, I will get you flour.’ He left the house and didn’t return. At the hospital, they told me my son was dead.”
She said her 17-year-old was shot in the chest.
Hassan Omran, a paramedic with Gaza’s health ministry, called aid distribution points “centres of mass death.”
“Today, there were more than 150 injuries and more than 20 martyrs at the aid distribution centres,” Omran said in Khan Younis. “The Israeli occupation deliberately kills and commits genocide. They call people to get their daily food, and then, when citizens arrive, they are killed in cold blood.”
“All the victims have gunshot wounds to the head and chest, meaning the enemy is committing these crimes deliberately,” he said.
Israel has consistently rejected accusations of genocide and says it does not target civilians.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the U.S.- and Israeli-backed agency responsible for the aid site near Rafah, denied that any violence had occurred at or near its distribution centers Thursday.
“Hamas is claiming there was violence at our aid distribution sites today. False,” the group said in a statement. “Once again, there were no incidents at or in the immediate vicinity of our sites. But that’s not stopping some from spreading the lies being peddled by ‘officials’ at the Hamas-controlled Nasser Hospital.”
Since May 27, when new distribution locations were set up to respond to widespread hunger, the Red Cross says its Rafah facility has documented more than 250 fatalities and treated over 3,400 patients injured in attacks.
Israeli strikes continued across other parts of Gaza on Thursday, part of a campaign the military describes as aimed at dismantling Hamas’ infrastructure and freeing remaining hostages.
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