GAZA: At least 67 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces while waiting for United Nations aid trucks in northern Gaza, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) reported that its 25-truck convoy encountered large crowds of starving civilians who then came under gunfire shortly after passing through Israeli checkpoints, BBC reported.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged firing what it described as “warning shots” in response to what it called an “immediate threat,” but disputed the reported number of fatalities.
The situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate rapidly. On Saturday, the health ministry warned of escalating hunger across the territory, saying increasing numbers of people are arriving at hospitals in extreme states of exhaustion and malnutrition.
It cautioned that hundreds of emaciated individuals were at imminent risk of dying from starvation. The UN has echoed these warnings, calling for urgent humanitarian access and supplies.
On Sunday, the ministry reported 18 deaths in the previous 24 hours attributed directly to famine.
Many of those injured in northern Gaza were taken to Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, where medical director Dr. Hassan al-Shaer said the facility was “overwhelmed” by the influx, according to BBC.
A woman outside the hospital told the outlet, “The whole population is dying,” adding that children were starving and surviving on just “water and salt.”
Gaza’s civil defense later reported that Israeli attacks had killed 93 people across the territory on Sunday alone, with 80 killed in the north. An additional nine were shot near an aid distribution point in Rafah and four more in Khan Younis in the south.
In Gaza City, a resident named Qasem Abu Khater told AFP that when he tried to get a bag of flour, he instead encountered chaos and heavy violence.
“Tanks were firing randomly, and Israeli snipers were shooting at people as if hunting in a forest,” he said. “Dozens were killed before my eyes, and no one could help.”
The UN’s World Food Programme condemned the violence against civilians trying to access humanitarian aid, calling it “completely unacceptable.”
(Inputs from BBC)
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