DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces killed at least 23 Palestinians seeking food on Sunday in Gaza, according to hospital officials and witnesses, who described facing gunfire as hungry crowds surged around aid sites, as the malnutrition-related death toll also rose.
Desperation has gripped the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts have warned is facing because of Israel’s blockade and nearly two-year offensive.
Yousef Abed, among the crowds en route to a distribution point, described coming under what he called indiscriminate fire, seeing at least three people bleeding on the ground.
“I couldn’t stop and help them because of the bullets,†he said.
Southern Gaza’s Nasser Hospital said they received bodies from routes to the sites, including eight from Teina, about three kilometers (1.8 miles) away from a distribution site in Khan Younis, which is operated by the , the private U.S.- and Israeli-backed contractor that took over aid distribution more than two months ago.
The hospital received one body from Shakoush, hundreds of meters (yards) north of a GHF site in Rafah. Another nine aid-seekers were killed by troops near the Morag corridor, it said.
Three Palestinian eyewitnesses, seeking food in Teina and Morag, told The Associated Press shootings occurred on the routes to distribution points, which are in military zones secured by Israeli forces. They said they saw soldiers open fire on hungry crowds advancing toward troops.
Further north in central Gaza, hospital officials described a similar episode, with Israeli troops opening fire Sunday morning toward crowds of Palestinians trying to reach GHF’s fourth and northernmost distribution point.
“Troops were trying to prevent people from advancing. They opened fire and we fled. Some people were shot,†said Hamza Matter, one of the aid seekers.
At least five people were killed and 27 wounded near GHF’s site close to Netzarim corridor, Awda Hospital said.
Eyewitnesses seeking food have reported similar gunfire attacks in recent days near aid distribution sites, leaving dozens of Palestinians dead.
The United Nations reported 859 people were killed near GHF sites from May 27 to July 31 and that hundreds more have been slain along the routes of U.N.-led food convoys.
The GHF launched in May as Israel sought an alternative to the U.N.-run system, which had safely delivered aid for much of the war but was accused by Israel of allowing Hamas, which guarded convoys early in the war, to siphon supplies.
Israel has not offered evidence of widespread theft. The U.N. has denied it.
GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Israel’s military has said it only fires warning shots as well. Both claimed the death tolls have been exaggerated
Israel’s military did immediately responded to questions about Sunday's reported fatalities. GHF's Media Office said there was no gunfire “near or at our sites.â€
Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry said six more Palestinian adults died of malnutrition-related causes over the past 24 hours. It said Sunday's casualties brought the death toll among Palestinian adults to 82 over the five weeks since the ministry started counting deaths among adults in late June. Malnutrition-related deaths are not included in the ministry’s count of war casualties.
Ninety-three children have also died of causes related to malnutrition since the war in Gaza started in 2023, the ministry said.
Israeli minister prays at flashpoint holy site
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir prayed at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, a move swiftly condemned as a incitement by Palestinian leaders as well as Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
At the hilltop compound in the Old City revered by Jews and Muslims, Ben Gvir called on Israel to annex the Gaza Strip and encourage Palestinians to leave.
“This is the only way that we will return the hostages and win the war,†he said.
His visit on Sunday in honor of Tisha B’av, a day in which Jews mourn the destruction of two Jewish temples at the site, was the first in which a government minister openly prayed at the site.
Under the status quo, Jews have been allowed to tour the site but are barred from praying, with Israeli police and troops providing security. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said afterward that Israel would not change the norms governing the holy site.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned Ben Gvir's visit. Ambassador Sufian Qudah, a spokesperson for Jordan's Foreign Ministry, condemned what he called “provocative incursions by the extremist minister†and implored Israel to prevent escalation.
Ben Gvir's visit took place on Tisha B’av, a day in which Jews mourn the destruction of their temples. He condemned a video that Hamas released of 24-year-old hostage Evyatar David showing him emaciated in a dimly lit tunnel in Gaza.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the second-largest militant group in Gaza, triggered outrage when they released separate videos of individual hostages this week. Israeli media hasn’t broadcast the videos, calling them propaganda, but Netanyahu met with the hostage families on Saturday, pledging further efforts to return them to Israel.
Red Crescent Facility Shelled
The Palestinian Red Crescent said the Israeli military attacked its headquarters in the southern city of Khan Younis early Sunday, killing a staffer and wounding three others.
The overnight strike wrecked the organization's multi-story building, leaving its offices full of broken concrete and blood, with gaping holes in the walls and floors, according to video released by the organization.
Red Crescent said the military shelled its Khan Younis facility three times between around 1 a.m. local time.
Elsewhere in Khan Younis, an Israeli strike hit a school sheltering displaced people, killing at least two, Nasser hospital said.
Israel's military did not immediately respond to questions about either strike.
The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, and abducting another 251. They are , around 20 believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed more than , according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties. Israel has disputed its figures, but hasn’t provided its own account of casualties.
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Metz reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo.
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