At least 26 Palestinians were reportedly killed and some 175 were wounded as they made their way to receive food in the Gaza Strip, according to officials from the Hamas-run health ministry and witnesses, but Israeli officials dispute these claims.
Witnesses said Israeli forces fired on crowds around 1,000 yards away from an aid site run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. A Palestinian journalist told the BBC that thousands of Palestinians had gathered near the aid site near Gaza’s southern city of Rafah when Israeli tanks approached and opened fire on the crowd.
The Israeli Defense Forces said it is “currently unaware of injuries caused by IDF fire within the Humanitarian Aid distribution site,” adding that “the matter is still under review.”
The foundation said in a statement that it delivered 16 truckloads of aid “without incident” early on Sunday. It has denied previous accounts of chaos and gunfire around its sites, which are in Israeli military zones where independent access is limited.
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In its statement, the foundation dismissed what it referred to as “false reporting about deaths, mass injuries and chaos.”
The organization’s distribution of aid has been marred by chaos, with multiple witnesses having said Israeli troops fired on crowds near the delivery sites. Before Sunday, at least six people had been killed and more than 50 wounded, according to local health officials.
The foundation says the private security contractors guarding its sites have not fired on the crowds. The Israeli military has said it fired warning shots in previous incidents.
As thousands of people headed toward the distribution site hours before dawn, Israeli forces ordered them to disperse and return later, witnesses said. When the crowds reached the Flag Roundabout, around 1,000 yards away, at around 3 a.m., the military opened fire, the witnesses said.
“There was fire from all directions, from naval warships, from tanks and drones,” Amr Abu Teiba, who was in the crowd, said.
He said he observed at least 10 bodies with gunshot wounds and several other wounded people, including women. People used carts to carry the victims to the field hospital.
Another witness, Ibrahim Abu Saoud, gave a nearly identical account. Abu Saoud said he saw many people with gunshot wounds, including a young man who he said had died at the scene.
Mohammed Abu Teaima said he saw Israeli forces open fire and kill his cousin and another woman as they were on their way to the distribution site. He said his cousin was shot in his chest and died at the scene, while many others were wounded, including his brother-in-law.
“They opened heavy fire directly towards us,” he said.
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Israel and the U.S., which also backs the foundation, say the new aid system seeks to prevent Hamas from taking away aid. Israel has not provided any evidence of systematic diversion and the U.N. denies it has happened.
U.N. agencies and major aid groups have refused to work with the new system, arguing that it violates humanitarian principles since it allows Israel to control who receives aid and forces people to relocate to distribution sites.
The U.N. system has struggled to bring in aid after Israel recently slightly eased its total blockade of the territory. The groups say Israel’s restrictions, the breakdown of law and order and widespread looting make it extremely difficult to deliver aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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