TEL AVIV, July 16: Twenty Palestinians were killed at a food distribution center run by an Israeli-backed American organization in the Gaza Strip, mostly from being trampled. The Gaza Humanitarian Fund accused the Hamas militant group of fomenting unrest at the site, leading to a “dangerous surge,” though it provided no evidence to support the claim.
Witnesses said GHF guards threw stun grenades and used pepper spray on people pressing to get into the site before it opened, causing a panic in the narrow, fenced-in entrance. Since the group’s operations began in late May, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in shootings by Israeli soldiers while on roads heading to the sites.
GHF’s four sites are all in military-controlled zones, and the Israeli military has said its troops have only fired warning shots to control crowds. Gaza’s more than 2 million Palestinians are living through a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, and the territory is teetering on the edge of famine. The United Nations human rights office said that 875 Palestinians were killed while seeking food since May, with 674 killed while en route to GHF food sites.
Israel has struck more than 120 targets in the past 24 hours across the Gaza Strip, including Hamas military infrastructure of tunnels and weapons storage facilities.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said that hospitals have received a total of 94 bodies over the past 24 hours, with another 252 wounded. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 58,000 Palestinians, with women and children making up more than half of the dead. (AP)
