Dozens of Palestinians have been killed this week near aid distribution sites in the Gaza Strip, according to the territory’s health ministry. But the bloodshed has drawn less international attention this time around as the world’s focus shifts to a new regional conflict between Israel and Iran.
Many of the details surrounding the killings on Monday and Tuesday were not immediately clear. But in recent weeks, Israeli forces have repeatedly used lethal force against hungry and desperate Palestinian civilians to control crowds on the approaches to the new aid sites, forcing many to choose between food and the risk of getting shot.
The aid sites were set up under a new Israeli-backed system run by an American-led company, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. It replaces a system overseen by the United Nations and aims to provide food to civilians without the supplies falling into the hands of Hamas.
The United Nations and other international groups have condemned the new initiative, however, partly because civilians must pass Israeli soldiers to reach the sites, putting them in greater danger. They have also said the amount of aid getting through is woefully inadequate for the population’s needs.
“The danger is too high for me to go to these centers,” Awni Abu Hassira, 38, from Gaza City, said in a phone interview. “I don’t want to face death this way.”
The Gaza Health Ministry said that at least 20 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and more than 200 wounded early Monday when a crowd gathered near an aid distribution site in southern Gaza. Israel said it was still looking into the reports.
The ministry reported a similar event on Tuesday morning that it said had resulted in more than 50 deaths. On both days, the victims were taken to a hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
Israel said that two of its soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Gaza in recent days.
Asked for comment on Tuesday’s violence, the Israeli military said that “a gathering was identified adjacent to an aid distribution truck that got stuck in the area of Khan Younis” in proximity to Israeli forces operating in the area. The statement, using the abbreviation for the Israeli military added that it was “aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals from I.D.F. fire following the crowd’s approach” and was reviewing the matter.
It said the military “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals.”
Naseem Hassan, a medic at a hospital in Khan Younis, on Monday described the difficulty of aiding people who were shot as they tried to collect food from a nearby aid distribution point. He said scores of Palestinian victims had been rushed to his hospital.
“People who are injured have to crawl or be carried for over a kilometer to reach us,” said Mr. Hassan, who works at Nasser Hospital. “We couldn’t reach the aid centers, ambulances can’t get there,” he added.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Monday that one of its field hospitals had treated more than 200 people after the shootings near the aid site.
“Due to the ongoing restrictions of humanitarian assistance, people are struggling to access basic goods, including fuel,” the Red Cross said in a statement.
The United Nations has warned that Gaza’s population is on the brink of famine, with thousands of children already severely malnourished.
“The facts speak for themselves,” said Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. Speaking in Geneva on Monday, he called Israel’s military campaign in Gaza a source of “horrifying, unconscionable suffering” and urged governments to “wake up” and pay attention.
“All those with influence must exert maximum pressure on Israel and Hamas, to put an end to this unbearable suffering,” he said.
Ameera Harouda contributed reporting.
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