On Tuesday, Israeli tanks opened fire on a crowd attempting to obtain aid from trucks in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of at least 59 people, according to medics. This incident marks one of the bloodiest episodes yet in the escalating violence as desperate residents struggle for food.
Videos shared on social media depicted approximately a dozen mutilated bodies lying on a street in Khan Younis, located in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military, currently engaged in conflict with Hamas-led Palestinian militants in Gaza since October 2023, acknowledged firing in the area and stated it was investigating the incident.
Witnesses interviewed by Reuters reported that Israeli tanks had launched at least two shells at a crowd of thousands who had gathered on the main eastern road through Khan Younis, hoping to secure food from aid trucks utilizing that route. “All of a sudden, they let us move forward and made everyone gather, and then shells started falling, tank shells,” recounted Alaa, an eyewitness interviewed by Reuters at Nasser Hospital. Wounded victims were sprawled on the floor and in corridors due due to severe lack of space. “No one is looking at these people with mercy. The people are dying, they are being torn apart, to get food for their children. Look at these people, all these people are torn to get flour to feed their children.”
Palestinian medics confirmed that at least 59 people were killed and 221 wounded in the incident, with at least 20 in critical condition. Casualties were being rushed to the hospital using civilian cars, rickshaws, and even donkey carts. This represents the highest single-day death toll since aid deliveries resumed in Gaza in May.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said: “Earlier today, a gathering was identified adjacent to an aid distribution truck that got stuck in the area of Khan Younis, and in proximity to IDF troops operating in the area. The IDF is aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals from IDF fire following the crowd’s approach. The details of the incident are under review. The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimise harm as much as possible to them while maintaining the safety of our troops.”
Medics also reported that at least 14 other people were killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes elsewhere in the densely populated enclave, bringing Tuesday’s overall death toll to at least 73. The health ministry stated that since late May, 397 Palestinians attempting to access food aid have been killed, and over 3,000 wounded.
This incident is the latest in a series of nearly daily large-scale killings of Palestinians seeking aid, occurring in the three weeks since Israel partially eased a nearly three-month total blockade on the territory.
Israel has been channeling much of the aid it currently permits into Gaza through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a new U.S.- and Israeli-backed group operating a limited number of distribution sites guarded by Israeli forces. Regarding Tuesday’s incident, the GHF stated, “The incident in question did not occur at a GHF site, but rather near a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) location.”
The United Nations has criticized the GHF delivery system as inadequate, dangerous, and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules. Israel, however, maintains that the system is necessary to prevent Hamas fighters from diverting aid, a claim Hamas denies. Gaza authorities report that hundreds of Palestinians have been killed attempting to reach GHF sites. The GHF, in a press release late Monday, claimed to have distributed over three million meals at its four distribution sites without incident.
The Gaza war commenced in October 2023, following an attack on Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants that, according to Israeli allies, killed 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages. Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has led to the deaths of nearly 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of 2.3 million and precipitating a severe hunger crisis.
Since last week, Gaza Palestinians have been closely following the new air conflict between Israel and Iran, a long-standing supporter of Hamas. Residents of Gaza have circulated images of buildings in Israel damaged by Iranian missiles, with some expressing satisfaction at seeing Israelis experience a degree of the fear of airstrikes that they have endured for 20 months.
