Israel-Hamas war: Israeli forces shoot at hundreds of starving Palestinians waiting for food, aid; 25 dead

At least 25 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli forces in Gaza on Tuesday, 24 June, as hundreds were waiting for food and other aid material. The Israeli forces and drones hovering over shot at the ‘starving’ Palestinians on the Salah al-Din Road south of Wadi Gaza, killing at least 25 and injuring multiple people.

As many as 146 Palestinians have been wounded in the firing. The wounded were taken to Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, where doctors were treating multiple injuries. Among them, 62 were in critical condition and were transferred to other hospitals in central Gaza, Al-Awda Hospital said.

Some eyewitnesses to the shooting at the Gaza aid centre said that the drones were flying over the area where hundreds were waiting for food and other aid. Israeli forces opened fire as people were advancing eastward to be close to the approaching trucks.

“It was a massacre,” an eyewitness, Ahmed Halawa, said. He said tanks and drones fired at people, even as “we were fleeing”. Many people were either martyred or wounded.” Also Read | Israel-Iran ceasefire: Who blinked first, Netanyahu or Khamenei, and how did the breakthrough happen?

Hossam Abu Shahada, another eyewitness, described a “chaotic and bloody” scene as people were attempting to escape.

The firing comes as Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Iran after days of escalating tensions in the Middle East, which also saw the United States striking nuclear facilities in Tehran. In retaliation for the US attack, Iran struck a US airbase in Qatar. Also Read | Israel-Hamas war: A day after ‘hordes of hungry people' loot Gaza food warehouse, Israeli attacks claim 44 lives

Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after Hamas’ 7 October 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostages.

Most of the hostages were released by ceasefire agreements. So far, over 56,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli forces.

(With agency inputs)