Palestinian medical sources said Israeli soldiers fired again on Saturday at people waiting for aid distribution in the northern Gaza Strip, claiming 16 people were killed and about 300 were wounded.
Doctors at Sifa Hospital said the victims were waiting for aid trucks to arrive at the northern Zikim border crossing. The Israeli military has not yet commented on the incident, which has not been reported by an independent source.
The Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) is currently distributing aid in the strip. The organization, supported by Israel and the United States, began working in the area in late May after Israel blocked aid for months. GHF distribution points are protected by American private security companies. The UN says the GHF has set up too few distribution points, only four, while the UN previously distributed food to 400 settlements.
Since late May, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed near aid distribution points and aid convoys, with Israeli soldiers opening fire on those who approach them without permission or enter closed areas.
We wrote in detail in this article about why soldiers are shooting at people waiting in line for aid and how severe the famine is affecting the people there since Israel has not allowed international aid organizations in.
They starve for days
According to the UN World Food Programme, almost a third of the population of the Gaza Strip goes without food for days.
“Malnutrition is increasing, with 90,000 women and children in need of urgent treatment,” the World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement.
In the Palestinian territories, the Hamas-run health ministry said nine more people had died of malnutrition on Friday, bringing the total number of deaths since the war began to 122. Amnesty International says more than 1,000 Palestinians have died since the GHF began providing aid. Israel blames Hamas for the malnutrition.
On Friday, Germany, France and the United Kingdom called on Israel to “immediately lift restrictions on aid access” to the territory.
In their joint statement, they called for an immediate end to the"humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza" and the war itself, adding that Israel must"comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law."
"Depriving the civilian population of essential humanitarian assistance is unacceptable," the statement said.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he could not “explain the indifference and inaction of too many members of the international community – the lack of compassion, justice and humanity”.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke again by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Saturday about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The British government said Britain was working to airlift humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and evacuate children in urgent need of medical assistance. The British government is working with Jordan to help the people of the Gaza Strip, a spokesman said. (BBC, MTI)
