Tel Aviv (BN24) – Israeli gunfire killed at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday as people gathered for desperately needed aid, according to local health officials and witnesses, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed his call for what he terms the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from the war-torn enclave.
Netanyahu’s remarks, aired Tuesday on Israel’s i24 television, came as Israel prepared to expand its military offensive to parts of Gaza it does not yet control, including Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of displaced residents are sheltering. “Give them the opportunity to leave — first from combat zones, and also from the strip if they want,” Netanyahu said. Critics warn the policy could amount to ethnic cleansing, while Netanyahu says it aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump’s vision of relocating much of Gaza’s population abroad.
Health workers at Nasser and Awda hospitals said those killed Wednesday were struck by Israeli fire either while approaching or waiting at aid distribution points. Fourteen people were killed in the Teina area, roughly 1.8 miles from a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) food distribution center, witnesses said. Another five died trying to reach a GHF site in the Netzarim corridor, while six others were fatally shot near the Morag corridor in southern Gaza, according to hospital reports.
The Israeli military said it had no knowledge of casualties in the Netzarim area and stressed there were no incidents at or near GHF sites that day. Israel and the U.S. back GHF as an alternative to the United Nations for aid delivery, accusing the U.N. of allowing Hamas to divert supplies — an allegation the U.N. denies.
The latest killings came as ceasefire efforts tentatively resumed in Cairo, where Hamas and Egyptian officials met to discuss a proposal for a 60-day truce, the release of some hostages, and increased humanitarian aid. Israel has not sent a delegation, and Netanyahu said he remains focused on recovering all hostages, both alive and dead. Hamas maintains it will only release captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, an Israeli withdrawal, and a permanent ceasefire.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military announced it had killed Hamas militant Abdullah Saeed Abd al-Baqin, accused of taking part in the Oct. 7, 2023 abduction of three hostages. That attack killed about 1,200 people in Israel and sparked a war that Gaza health authorities say has killed more than 61,700 Palestinians — roughly half of them women and children — and displaced nearly the entire population.
Violence also flared in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli settler gunfire killed a 35-year-old Palestinian, identified as Thamin Dawabshe, near the village of Duma. The military said he and others had thrown rocks at an off-duty soldier and another man, prompting warning shots before lethal fire. The killing underscored a surge in both settler and Palestinian violence in the West Bank since the war began.
