Gaza medics says 12 killed in fresh violence
Hamas-controlled authorities claim at least five people shot dead near aid centers operated by US- and Israeli-backed group
Israeli fire and airstrikes killed at least 12 Palestinians on Sunday across the enclave, Hamas-controlled health authorities said, adding that at least five of them were killed near two aid sites operated by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Medics at Al-Awda Hospital in the central Gaza Strip said at least three people were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire as they tried to approach a GHF site near the Netzarim corridor. Two others were killed en route to another aid site in Rafah in the south.
An airstrike killed seven other people in Beit Lahiya town north of the enclave, medics said.
There was no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces.
Hamas casualty figures cannot be verified and do not distinguish between fighters and noncombatants.
The GHF kept its sites closed on Saturday on orders from the IDF, but said they would open at noon on Sunday.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution that the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. Its operations have been plagued by deadly shooting incidents in areas leading to its sites.
The IDF is not present at the sites that are protected by civilian contractors, but does secure the approach routes. The IDF has admitted that in some cases, troops fired warning shots or fired at suspects who approached them while ignoring warnings to stay away from military positions.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said on Saturday that at least 274 people have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded near aid distribution sites since the GHF began operations.
In response to such claims, IDF Spokesman Effie Defrin said in early June that Hamas’s figures were “exaggerated,” adding that “Hamas disseminates false information, which is unfortunately taken by some international media without verification.”
The United Nations rejects the new Israeli-backed distribution system as inadequate, dangerous, and a violation of humanitarian impartiality principles.
Last week, the IDF said captured Hamas documents show the group has been “systematically exploiting” the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza throughout the ongoing war to fund its terror activities.
The Times of Israel Community.