Tel Aviv-Yafo [Israel], June 18: The Israeli military has again killed people waiting near a distribution centre for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas authorities there.
The Hamas-controlled health authority said there had been more than 50 fatalities and around 200 injured in the south of the sealed-off coastal area. It did not give any details.
Eyewitnesses told DPA that some people were on foot and others in vehicles on their way to a distribution centre when the Israeli army shelled them in an area between the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis.
The Israeli army stated that a humanitarian aid truck had become stuck near Khan Younis. A crowd had gathered in the area, where Israeli forces were operating, and approached the soldiers.
The army acknowledged reports of injuries caused by Israeli fire.
"The details of the incident are currently being investigated," it said in a statement.
The Israeli military expressed regret for any harm caused to individuals not involved in the incident and stated that it strives to minimize injury to civilians.
At the same time, it emphasized the need to ensure the safety of Israeli troops.
The claims from both the Israeli military and Palestinians could not be independently verified.
Palestinian media carried a video showing bloodied victims in a clinic, but the authenticity of the footage has not been confirmed.
A doctor working in Gaza City for the World Health Organization (WHO) cited reports of at least 50 victims, including more than 20 fatalities.
According to the WHO, incidents also occurred on Sunday and Monday when dozens of patients with gunshot wounds arrived at hospitals.
Many did not survive and those that did said they were attacked near distribution centres.
The centres are operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is supported by Israel and the United States. It began its mission in the Gaza Strip last month following an almost three-month-long Israeli blockade of aid supplies.
The distribution is intended as an alternative to the distribution of aid by the United Nations and international aid organizations. Both these groups have criticized the GHF.
Israel and the US say the distribution by the GHF prevents Hamas from appropriating humanitarian aid supplies.
On several occasions people have been reported killed near the distribution centres.
Israel on previous occasions said they had fired at people who were not following prescribed routes. The GHF has previously said that the deaths have occurred outside their own security zone.
According to the WHO, 17 of the 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip that still offer minimal services are on the verge of collapse.
The main issue is a lack of fuel, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X.
Israel is blocking fuel imports and, according to Tedros, is not allowing the WHO to access remaining reserves stored in areas of the Gaza Strip designated as evacuation zones by Israel.
These zones cover 80% of the territory, according to the UN.
Without fuel, operating theatres, dialysis machines, and incubators cannot function, medicines cannot be refrigerated, and water cannot be boiled.
"Ceasefire. NOW," Tedros said.
Source: Qatar Tribune
