Israeli fire kills 27 near Gaza aid point
At least 27 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire near a food distribution site in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, local health authorities said, in the third day of chaos and bloodshed to affect the aid operation.
The Israeli military said its forces had opened fire on a group of individuals who had left designated access routes near the distribution centre in Rafah. It added it was still investigating what had happened.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The deaths came hours after Israel said three of its soldiers had been killed in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, as its forces pushed ahead with a months-long offensive against Hamas that has laid waste to much of the enclave.
A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross told Reuters that its field hospital in Rafah received 184 casualties, adding that 19 of those were declared dead upon arrival, and eight died of their wounds shortly after.
More than 35 patients required immediate intervention, the spokesperson added.
The head of the UN agency, Volker Turk, urged a prompt and impartial investigation into the killings. "Attacks directed against civilians constitute a grave breach of international law, and a war crime," he said in a statement.
The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said it distributed 21 truckloads of food early yesterday and that the aid operation was "conducted safely and without incident within the site".
However, there have been reports of repeated killings near Rafah as crowds gather to get desperately needed supplies.
On Sunday, Palestinian and international officials reported that at least 31 people were killed and dozens more injured. On Monday, three more Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli fire.
The Israeli military has denied targeting civilians gathering for aid and called reports of deaths during Sunday's distribution "fabrications" by Hamas.
It issued new evacuation orders to residents of several districts in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip late on Monday, warning that the army would act forcefully against Hamas members operating in those areas.
The military told residents to head west towards the Mawasi humanitarian area. Palestinian and United Nations officials say there are no safe areas in the enclave, and that most of its 2.3 million population has become internally displaced.
The territory's health ministry said yesterday that the new evacuation orders could halt work at the Nasser Hospital, the largest, still-functioning medical facility in the south, endangering the lives of those being treated there.
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