GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: Gaza’s civil defense agency said at least 34 people were killed by Israeli fire on Saturday, including more than a dozen civilians who were waiting to collect aid.
Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP nine people were killed and 181 wounded when Israeli forces opened fire on them as they gathered near a border crossing in northern Gaza that has been used for aid deliveries.
Six more people were killed and 30 wounded after Israeli troops targeted civilians assembling near an aid point in central Gaza, he said.
Strikes in central Gaza also resulted in multiple casualties, according to Bassal, while a drone attack near the southern city of Khan Yunis killed at least three people and wounded several others.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense and the Israeli military.
Thousands of Palestinians congregate daily near food distribution points in Gaza, including four managed by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Since launching in late May, its operations have been marred by almost-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on those waiting to collect aid.
Israeli restrictions on the entry of supplies into Gaza since the start of the war nearly two years ago have led to shortages of food and essential supplies, including medicine and fuel, which hospitals require to power their generators.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces mounting pressure to agree to a ceasefire to bring the territory’s more than two million people back from the brink of famine and free the hostages held by Palestinian militants.
But early Friday, the Israeli security cabinet approved plans for a major operation to seize Gaza City, triggering a wave of outrage across the globe.
Despite the backlash and rumors of dissent from Israeli military top brass, Netanyahu has remained defiant over the decision.
In a post on social media late Friday, he said “we are not going to occupy Gaza — we are going to free Gaza from Hamas.”
The Palestinian militant group, whose October 7, 2023 attack triggered the war, has slammed the plan to expand the fighting as a “new war crime.”
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry, figures the United Nations says are reliable.
Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
