Sawt Falasteen - Gaza rescuers say Israel army kills more than 50 people near aid site

The Gaza Strip has been ravaged by more than 20 months of war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, with the situation continuing to deteriorate on the ground amid shortages of food, fuel and clean water.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that at least 53 people were killed and some 200 wounded as thousands of Palestinians gathered to receive flour at a World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid centre in the morning.

"Israeli drones fired at the citizens. Some minutes later, Israeli tanks fired several shells at the citizens, which led to a large number of martyrs and wounded," he said.

The Israeli army said it was "aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals from (Israeli military) fire following the crowd's approach" in Khan Yunis, and that the details of the incident were "under review".

It said that "a gathering was identified adjacent to an aid distribution truck that got stuck in the area of Khan Yunis, and in proximity to (Israeli) troops operating in the area."

Bassal said that four additional people were killed by Israeli fire Tuesday near the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

- Chaotic scenes -

Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and other difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported that as a result of the incident, "51 martyrs and more than 200 injuries have arrived at Nasser Medical Complex, including 20 in critical condition".

In early March, Israel imposed a total aid blockade on the Gaza Strip amid an impasse in truce negotiations, only partially easing restrictions in late May.

The US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began distributing aid in late May, but its operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and dozens of deaths.

The UN's humanitarian agency OCHA said Monday that during recent aid distributions several children have been "temporarily separated from their families due to mass movements around militarised distribution points."

Workers raced to restore Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, one of the last remaining functioning health facilities in Gaza's north, an area particularly hard-hit by the war.

They cleared piles of rubble out of the courtyard to make space for ambulances, breaking large chunks of concrete from a collapsed storey with sledgehammers.

Amer Abu Safiya, a patient at the hospital who suffered from a wound on his hand, told AFP there was little doctors could do to help him.

- 'There's no medication' -

"Every day we are being bombed from the north to the south. Al-Ahli Hospital has been destroyed. Medical services are halted. As you can see, there's nothing to wrap around my hand, and there's no medication", he said, holding up his swollen hand while laying down on a makeshift bed in the hospital's backyard.

"We are reactivating the emergency department as well as the physiotherapy. This is important", Alessandro Maracchi, head of the UN Development Program's Gaza's office, told AFP.

OCHA further reported that its humanitarian partners in Gaza "continue to warn of the risk of famine in Gaza, amid catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity".

The war was triggered by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to official Israeli figures.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Monday that 5,194 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on the territory on March 18 following a truce.

The overall death toll in Gaza since the war broke out on October 7, 2023 has reached 55,493 people, according to the health ministry.

O.Salim--SF-PST