ISRAELI forces and drones have killed at least 86 Palestinians since dawn, including 56 near aid distribution centres, in the latest attacks on desperate people seeking aid in the besieged Gaza Strip, according to medical sources in hospitals.
In Rafah alone, in the south of the enclave, 27 aid seekers were gunned down by the Israeli military on Tuesday.
The overall death toll from Israel’s war has risen to more than 56,000 killed and 131,848 injuries since October 7, 2023.
The killings are the latest in a wave of daily carnage near aid distribution points established late last month by the controversial Israeli and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA) has labelled a “death trap”.
Medical sources reported that at least 25 people were killed in an incident on Salah al-Din Street south of Wadi Gaza in central Gaza, according to The Associated Press news agency. More than 140 other people were injured, 62 of them critically.
Footage posted on the social media site Instagram, and verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency, showed bodies being brought to al-Awda Hospital in the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp.
Similar scenes were reported from the Nasser Medical Complex to the south in Khan Younis, following unverified reports that the Israeli army had targeted people waiting for aid on al-Tina Street.
People approaching an aid point in Gaza City were also killed, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported from the city in the north of the territory, as well as Rafah in the south.
“Casualties were brought to various health facilities, including al-Shifa Hospital [in Gaza City],” he said. “The emergency ward there turned into a bloodbath, and many died waiting for medical care.”
Witnesses told the AP that Israeli forces had opened fire as people were approaching the aid trucks.
“It was a massacre,” said Ahmed Halawa, reporting that tanks and drones had fired “even as we were fleeing”.
The Israeli military said it was reviewing reports of casualties from fire by its troops after a group of people approached soldiers in an area near the militarised Netzarim Corridor.
Israel has said that previous shootings near GHF aid sites have been provoked by the approach of “suspects” towards soldiers.