GAZA — On Thursday, Palestinian health authorities in Gaza reported that Israeli fire aimed at people waiting for aid near
Gaza City had killed more than 100 Palestinians and wounded 280. One hospital received 10 bodies and dozens of injured patients.
اضافة اعلان
An Israeli military spokesperson denied knowledge of shelling at that location. The military later stated that dozens of people were hurt due to pushing and trampling when aid trucks arrived in
northern Gaza.
An Israeli source informed Reuters that troops opened fire at "several people" in the crowd who posed a threat to them.
The Government Information Office reported that 104 Palestinians were killed and 700 injured in a massacre near the Nabulsi roundabout in the
northern Gaza Strip after Israeli occupation forces bombed a gathering of citizens waiting to receive flour and humanitarian aid.
The Government Information Office in Gaza stated that the occupation forces committed this horrific massacre with premeditation as part of the genocide of the people of the Strip. It knew that the victims would arrive in the area to obtain aid, yet it killed them in cold blood.
The office appealed to the world, Arab, and Islamic countries to intervene immediately to stop the genocidal war. It held the American administration, the international community, and the occupation responsible for this horrific massacre.
Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that the dead and wounded were transferred to the Al-Shifa Complex, Kamal Adwan Hospital, and Al-Awda Hospital due to the absence of necessary medical capabilities.
The incident in Gaza occurred within hours of USAID administrator Samantha Power's visit to the Kerem Shalom border crossing, where she urged Israel to increase aid and open additional crossings.
"It is absolutely clear that as conditions continue to deteriorate in Gaza for the Gazan people, two crossings is not enough," she said.
"We are talking to Israeli officials about the need to open up far more crossings, far more passages into Gaza, so that vitally needed humanitarian assistance can be dramatically surged. This is a matter of life and death," she added.
Her visit comes amid growing concern from US officials about Israel's targeting of civilian police forces (which includes Hamas forces but also people with no direct affiliation) escorting aid trucks in Gaza. This coincides with the steep decrease in aid trucks entering Gaza in recent weeks.
Power discussed issues of getting aid into Gaza during meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, according to US officials.
US officials have begun discussing last-ditch efforts at supplying aid through measures like aid drops, as first reported by Axios, encouraged by recent drops conducted by Jordan in cooperation with Egypt and France. Many US officials, however, are skeptical of this method's efficacy since the amount of aid dropped would only be equivalent to one or two trucks. Regardless, US officials insist that increasing the scale of aid trucks entering is the top priority.
US officials further noted that the incident highlights the need to get a temporary cease-fire in place as soon as possible, particularly as Ramadan begins in a week-and-a-half, given the increasingly desperate nature of the Gaza humanitarian crisis.
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