Earlier, 14 Palestinians were martyred in different areas, bringing the number of those martyred in a single day to 73.
Gaza: Israeli tanks opened fire on a crowd gathering to collect food in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, killing at least 59 Palestinians and wounding 221, more than 20 of whom are said to be in critical condition. The incident is being described as one of the worst in Gaza’s food shortages.
According to a Reuters report, dozens of bodies can be seen strewn on the road in videos going viral on social media. According to medical staff, civilian vehicles, rickshaws and donkey carts were used to bring the martyrs and injured to hospitals because ambulances are not available in hospitals and there is a severe shortage of space.
According to eyewitnesses, thousands of people had gathered on the eastern main road of Khan Younis, hoping to receive food from aid trucks. At the same time, Israeli tanks fired two shells.
“They suddenly let us go forward, gathered everyone and then opened fire with tanks,” Alaa, an eyewitness, told Nasser Hospital. “These people had only come to get flour for their children and now the pieces of their bodies are scattered all over the place. No one is showing them mercy.”
The Israeli army confirmed the incident, saying, “A crowd of people was seen near an aid truck in the Khan Yunis area where IDF forces were stationed. When the crowd moved forward, some people were injured. The incident is under investigation.”
According to medical sources, in addition to this incident, 14 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli shelling and gunfire in other areas of Gaza on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 73 in a single day.
The Gaza Health Ministry says at least 397 Palestinians have been killed and more than 3,000 injured while trying to get food since late May.
Israel has resumed limited aid deliveries after a three-month siege, distributed through a new US-Israeli-backed organization, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The organization distributes aid in limited areas supervised by the Israeli military. However, the United Nations has called the system ineffective, dangerous and contrary to humanitarian principles.
Gaza authorities say that hundreds of Palestinians have lost their lives trying to reach GHF aid sites, while GHF claims that it has distributed more than three million food items in four locations without incident.
Meanwhile, the eyes of the people of Gaza have also been focused on the ongoing air war between Israel and Iran in recent days, and some Palestinians have shared images of Iranian missile attacks on Israeli cities on social media, saying that now the Israelis are also feeling the same fear that the people of Gaza have been enduring for the past 20 months.
