Volkswacht Bodensee - Gaza civil defence says Israeli fire kills 26 near two aid centres

Deaths of people waiting for handouts in huge crowds near food points in Gaza have become a regular occurrence, with the territory's authorities frequently blaming Israeli fire.

But the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has replaced UN agencies as the main distributor of aid in the territory, has accused militant group Hamas of fomenting unrest and shooting at civilians.

Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the deaths happened near a site southwest of Khan Yunis and another centre northwest of Rafah, both in the south, attributing the deaths to "Israeli gunfire".

One witness said he headed to the Al-Tina area of Khan Yunis before dawn with five of his relatives to try to get food when "Israeli soldiers" started shooting.

"My relatives and I were unable to get anything," Abdul Aziz Abed, 37, told AFP. "Every day I go there and all we get is bullets and exhaustion instead of food."

Three other witnesses also accused troops of opening fire.

- 'Warning shots' -

In response, the Israeli military said it "identified suspects who approached them during operational activity in the Rafah area, posing a threat to the troops".

Soldiers called for them to turn back and "after they did not comply, the troops fired warning shots", it said, adding that it was aware of the reports about casualties.

"The incident is under review. The shots were fired approximately one kilometre (more than half a mile) away from the aid distribution site at nighttime when it's not active," it said in a statement.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties.

The war in Gaza, sparked by militant group Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people who live in the coastal territory.

Most people have been displaced at least once by the fighting, and doctors and aid agencies say the physical and mental health effects of 21 months of conflict are being increasingly seen.

"We are receiving cases suffering from extreme exhaustion and complete fatigue, in addition to severe emaciation and acute malnutrition due to prolonged lack of food," the director of the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in Khan Yunis, Sohaib Al-Hums, said on Friday.

"Hundreds" of people were facing "imminent death", he added.

The World Food Programme said nearly one in three people in Gaza were not eating for days at a stretch and "thousands" were "on the verge of catastrophic hunger".

The free flow of aid into Gaza is a key demand of Hamas in indirect negotiations with Israel for a 60-day ceasefire in the war, alongside a full Israeli military withdrawal.

- 'Agitators' -

Following a more than two-month Israeli aid blockade, GHF took over the running of aid distribution in late May, despite criticism from the United Nations, which previously coordinated handouts, that it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

GHF said 20 people died at its Khan Yunis site on Wednesday but blamed "agitators in the crowd... armed and affiliated with Hamas" for creating "a chaotic and dangerous surge" and firing at aid-seekers.

The previous day, the United Nations said it had recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food, including 674 "in the vicinity of GHF sites", since it began operating.

Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel led to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel's retaliatory military action has killed 58,667 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

G.Haefliger--VB