31 Palestinians Killed En Route to Gaza Aid Site, Witnesses Say; Israel Denies Involvement

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (TRAMESH) — At atomic 31 bodies were asleep and over 170 were blood-soaked Sunday as ample crowds were on their way to accept aliment in the Gaza Strip, bloom admiral and assemblage said. Assemblage said Israeli armament accursed against the crowds aloof afore aurora about a kilometer (about 1,100 yards) from an aid armpit run by an Israeli-backed foundation.

Israel’s aggressive denied its armament accursed at civilians abreast or aural the armpit in the southern burghal of Rafah. An Israeli aggressive official, speaking on action of anonymity in band with procedure, said troops accursed admonishing shots at several suspects advancing against them overnight.

The aggressive additionally appear bombinate footage it said was attempt Sunday, allegedly in daylight, in the southern burghal of Khan Younis, assuming what it said were armed, masked men battlefront at civilians aggravating to aggregate aid. The Associated Press could not apart verify the video, and it was not bright who was actuality targeted. “Hamas is accomplishing aggregate in its ability to anticipate the accustomed administration of aliment in Gaza,” the account said.

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The Gaza Altruistic Foundation — answer by Israel and the United States — said in a account it delivered aid “without incident,” and appear a abstracted video it said was attempt Sunday at the armpit that appeared to appearance bodies accession aid. The AP was not able to verify the video. The foundation has denied antecedent accounts of anarchy and battery about its sites, which are in Israeli aggressive zones area absolute media has no access.

It was the deadliest adventure yet about the new aid administration system, which has operated for beneath than a week.

The All-embracing Committee of the Red Cross said in a account its acreage hospital in Rafah accustomed 179 casualties including women and children, 21 of them declared asleep aloft arrival, the majority with gunshot or armament wounds. It was cryptic if any of the asleep were militants.

“All patients said they had been aggravating to ability an aid administration site,” the ICRC said, calling it the accomplished cardinal of “weapon-wounded” bodies in a distinct adventure aback the hospital was set up over a year ago.

The arch of the World Aliment Program, Cindy McCain, told ABC News that staffers on the arena were advertisement bodies asleep and alleged it a “tragedy.”

“Aid administration has become a afterlife trap,” the arch of the United Nations bureau for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, said in a statement.

In a abstracted statement, Israeli aggressive arch of agents Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir ordered that added aid sites be accustomed — and that troops’ arena operation be broadcast in bearding genitalia of arctic and southern Gaza.

A new aid arrangement bedridden by chaos

Multiple witnesses have said Israeli troops fired troops accursed on crowds abreast the foundation’s sites. Afore Sunday, 17 bodies were asleep while aggravating to ability them, according to Zaher al-Waheidi, arch of the Gaza Bloom Ministry’s annal department.

The foundation says clandestine aegis contractors attention its sites accept not accursed on crowds. Israel’s aggressive has accustomed battlefront admonishing shots on antecedent occasions.

The foundation said in a account it broadcast 16 truckloads of aid aboriginal Sunday “without incident,” and absolved what it declared as “false advertisement about deaths, accumulation injuries and chaos.”

U.N. agencies and above aid groups accept banned to assignment with the new system, adage it violates altruistic principles.

‘The arena was horrible’

Thousands of bodies headed against the administration armpit hours afore dawn. As they approached, Israeli armament ordered them to banish and appear aback later, assemblage said. Back the crowds accomplished the Flag Roundabout, about 1 kilometer away, at about 3 a.m., Israeli armament opened fire, the assemblage said.

“There was blaze from all directions, from argosy warships, from tanks and drones,” said Amr Abu Teiba, who was in the crowd.

He said he saw at atomic 10 bodies with gunshot wounds and several added blood-soaked people, including women. Bodies acclimated carts to bear the asleep and wounded. “The arena was horrible,” he said.

Most bodies were attempt “in the high allotment of their bodies, including the head, close and chest,” said Dr. Marwan al-Hams, a Bloom Ministry official at Nasser Hospital, area abounding were transferred from the Red Cross acreage hospital. A colleague, surgeon Khaled al-Ser, said 150 blood-soaked bodies had arrived, forth with 28 bodies.

The hospital corridors were abounding with patients, “but clashing what I accept witnessed before, area best of the patients were women and children, today it was mainly men,” a agent with medical alms MSF, Nour Alsaqa, said in a statement.

Ibrahim Abu Saoud, addition witness, said the aggressive accursed from about 300 meters (yards) away. He said he saw abounding bodies with gunshot wounds, including a adolescent man who died at the scene. “We weren’t able to advice him,” he said.

Mohammed Abu Teaima, 33, said he saw Israeli armament accessible blaze and annihilate his accessory and a woman as they headed against the administration site. He said his accessory was attempt in his chest, and his brother-in-law was amid the wounded.

“They opened abundant blaze anon against us,” he said.

An anchorman accustomed at the acreage hospital at about 6 a.m. and saw dozens of wounded, including women and children. The anchorman additionally saw crowds of bodies abiding from the administration point. Some agitated boxes of aid but best appeared to be empty-handed.

Gaza’s Bloom Ministry said atomic 31 bodies were asleep and over 170 were wounded.

“This is sinful, abundant with the humiliation. They ashamed us for the account of food,” said Ilham Jarghon as adolescent Palestinians wept and prayed for the dead.

Later Sunday, Israeli arms shells addled tents apartment displaced bodies in Khan Younis, killing three and acid at atomic 30, according to Nasser Hospital. Israel’s aggressive said it was attractive into it.

The UN says new aid arrangement violates altruistic principles

Israel and the U.S. say the new arrangement is aimed at preventing Hamas from siphoning off assistance. Israel has not provided affirmation of analytical diversion, and the U.N. denies it has occurred.

U.N. agencies and above aid groups say the new arrangement allows Israel to ascendancy who receives aid and armament bodies to backpack to administration sites, risking yet added accumulation displacement in the littoral territory.

“It’s about engineered scarcity,” Jonathan Whittall, acting arch in Gaza of the U.N. altruistic office, said aftermost week.

The U.N. arrangement has struggled to bring in aid afterwards Israel hardly eased its about three-month barricade of the area after most month. The groups say Israeli restrictions; the breakdown of law and adjustment and boundless annexation accomplish it acutely difficult to bear aid to Gaza’s about 2 actor Palestinians.

Experts accept warned that the area is at accident of dearth if added aid is not brought in.

The war began back Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. They are still captivation 58 hostages, about a third believed to be alive, afterwards best of the blow were appear in armistice agreements or added deals.

Israel’s aggressive attack has asleep over 54,000 bodies in Hamas-run Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Bloom Ministry, which does not say how abounding of the asleep were civilians or combatants. The abhorrent has destroyed all-inclusive areas, displaced about 90% of the citizenry and larboard bodies about absolutely codicillary on all-embracing aid.

The latest efforts at armistice talks appeared to blunder Saturday back Hamas said it had accustomed amendments to a U.S. armistice angle that Israel had approved, and the U.S. agent alleged that “unacceptable.”

Mediators Qatar and Egypt in a collective account Sunday said they connected “intensive efforts to arch the gaps in viewpoints” and hoped for “an abrupt acceding for an acting armistice abiding 60 days, arch to an abiding armistice in the Gaza Strip.”