No fewer than 27 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire near aid centre, say Gaza authorities
No fewer than 27 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire as they attempted to collect aid near a distribution site in Gaza, local officials say.
Civilians were fired upon by tanks, quadcopter drones, and helicopters near the al-Alam roundabout, about 1km (0.6 miles) from the aid site, a spokesman for Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, Mahmoud Basal, said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops fired shots after identifying suspects who moved towards them “deviating from the designated access routes”.
Israel previously denied shooting Palestinians in a similar incident on Sunday which the Hamas-run health ministry said killed 31 people and injured nearly 200.
Its denial was in direct contradiction to what dozens of civilian witnesses, NGOs, and health officials said.
Following Tuesday morning’s incident, the director of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Atef Al-Hout, described 24 dead and 37 wounded arriving with gunshot injuries, saying Israeli forces had opened fire on “crowds of civilians waiting for aid in western Rafah.”
A foreign medic working in the area told the BBC it had been “total carnage” since 03:48 (01:48 BST) and that they had been overwhelmed with casualties.
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In a video shared by a local journalist, witness Nadeem Zarab said he and his uncle began walking to the aid centre at 02:00 (00:00 BST). When they reached the roundabout “the shooting started, from the helicopter, the tanks, and the sniper soldiers”, he added.
“Gunfire was coming from all directions. We started using the wall as cover, shielding ourselves close to it.”
“People, as they were running, began collapsing in front of us. My uncle couldn’t bear it, he saw someone get shot right in front of him, so he tried to run and catch him. But I told him, ‘Come back, come back! Where are you going?'”
Another eyewitness, who did not want to be named, told BBC Arabic: “I am displaced from Khan Younis and responsible for a family of five.
“The Israeli Army informed us that we would be receiving aid through the US committee.
“When we arrived, the checkpoint opened at six o’clock. Suddenly, gunfire erupted from all directions.
They added: “Hundreds were wounded or killed, the scene was horrific. After we moved just two hundred metres, machine guns began firing at us.”
