At least 17 Palestinians were killed and dozens more injured on Tuesday near a humanitarian aid distribution site in central Gaza, according to local health authorities, as reported by Reuters.
The incident occurred as large crowds of displaced residents had gathered to receive food and supplies. Gaza health officials attributed the casualties to Israeli gunfire.
In response, the Israeli military said its troops had fired warning shots at “suspects who were advancing in the area of Wadi Gaza and posed a threat to the troops.” It also claimed the shots were fired hundreds of metres away from the aid site, prior to its opening hours, and that the figures released by local authorities did not match its own findings.
Medics reported that the wounded were taken to Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp and Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City. The area where the shooting occurred has been designated a hazardous zone by the Israeli military.
This incident follows a recent warning issued by the Israeli army, advising Palestinians to stay off roads leading to Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., declaring them “closed military zones.”
The deaths have further intensified concerns over civilian safety in Gaza. Just last week, at least 27 Palestinians were reported killed near another aid site in Rafah, also by Israeli fire—marking the third straight day of disruptions to aid delivery, according to local health officials.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), condemned the repeated incidents on X, writing:
“Day after day, casualties & scores of injured are reported at distribution points manned by Israel & private security companies.”
“This humiliating system continues to force thousands of hungry & desperate people to walk for tens of miles excluding the most vulnerable & those living too far,” he added.
The ongoing war began after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and took 251 hostages in Israel on October 7, 2023. Since then, Israel’s military offensive has reportedly killed over 54,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and devastated much of the enclave.
