Israeli fire killed at least 44 Palestinians in Gaza on Friday, many of whom had been trying to get food, local officials said, as a United Nations (UN) agency warned of a looming man-made drought in the enclave due to collapsing water systems.
At least 25 people awaiting aid trucks were killed by Israeli fire south of Netzarim in central Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run local health authority said.
Asked about the incident, the Israel Defense Forces said its troops had fired warning shots at suspected militants who advanced in a crowd towards them.
An Israeli aircraft then “struck and eliminated the suspects”, it said in a statement, adding that it was aware of others being hurt in the incident and was conducting a review.
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Separately, Gazan medics said at least 19 people were killed in other Israeli military strikes across the enclave, including 12 people in a house in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, taking Friday’s total death toll to at least 44.
In a statement on Friday, Hamas, which says Israel is using hunger as a weapon against the population of Gaza, accused Israel of systematically targeting Palestinians seeking food aid across the enclave. Israel denies this and accuses Hamas of stealing food aid, which the group denies.
Unicef, the UN’s children’s agency, warned in Geneva on Friday of drought conditions developing in Gaza.
“Children will begin to die of thirst ... Just 40 per cent of drinking water production facilities remain functional,” Unicef’s James Elder told reporters. “We are way below emergency standards in terms of drinking water.”
Unicef also reported a 50 per cent increase from April to May in children aged between six months and five years being admitted for treatment of malnutrition in Gaza, and half a million people going hungry.
Mr Elder, who was recently in Gaza, said he had many testimonials of women and children injured while trying to receive food aid, including a young boy who was wounded by a tank shell and later died of his injuries.
A lack of public clarity on when the sites – some of which are in combat zones – are open is causing mass casualty events, he added.
The route near Netzarim has become dangerous since the start of a new US-backed distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), witnesses say, with desperate Gazans heading to a designated area late at night to try to get aid supplies due to be handed out after dawn.
The route has also been used by aid trucks sent by the UN and aid groups, and people have also been heading there in the hope of grabbing bags off trucks.
Unicef said GHF was “making a desperate situation worse”.
At least 70 people were killed on Thursday by Israeli gunfire and military strikes, including 12 people who tried to approach a site operated by the GHF in the central Gaza Strip.
In an email, GHF accused Gazan health officials of regularly releasing inaccurate information. It said Palestinians do not access the nearby GHF site via the Netzarim corridor.
The statement did not address a question about whether GHF was aware of Thursday’s incident.
The GHF on Thursday said it had so far distributed nearly three million meals across three of its aid sites without incident.
The Gaza war was triggered when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7th, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s ministry for health, while displacing almost the entire population of more than two million and causing a hunger crisis. – Reuters
