At least 21 Palestinians have been killed after Israeli forces opened fire on thousands of people waiting for aid in Gaza City, government officials say. 155 were wounded by this Israeli shelling, says CNN.
Witnesses told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces had used helicopters, tanks and drones to target thousands of people waiting on food trucks.
Earlier on Thursday, at the same food distribution point at the Kuwait Roundabout, Israeli forces had shot dead at least six Palestinians, as the death toll has risen to more than 400 people in such attacks.
The Israeli military carried out five separate attacks on aid distribution centers in the past 48 hours in the Gaza Strip, killing 56 people and injuring more than 300, the media office of the enclave’s government said on Friday.
“We hold the US administration and the international community, in addition to the ‘Israeli’ occupation, fully responsible for the crime of genocide,” it said in a statement on Telegram.
The Israeli military denied that its forces had opened fire on the crowds and claimed instead that “armed Palestinians” were responsible for the attack.
“Armed Palestinians opened fire while Gazan civilians were awaiting the arrival of the aid convoy” in Gaza City on Thursday and then “continued to shoot as the crowd of Gazans began looting the trucks”, the military said in a statement on Friday.
“Additionally, a number of Gazan civilians were run over by the trucks,” it said, adding that a preliminary review determined that its forces did not carry out the attack with tanks, guns or air strikes.
Shaina Low, communications adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council, said the ongoing killings of aid seekers represent a breakdown in communication between aid groups and Israeli authorities.
Rights groups say that Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinians. Last month, Israeli forces killed 118 people scrambling for flour on the coastal al-Rashid Street, southwest of Gaza City, provoking worldwide condemnation, but the attacks have nonetheless continued unabated.
The United Nations has warned that at least 576,000 people in the enclave – a quarter of the population – are on the brink of famine, and global pressure has been growing on Israel to allow more access to aid. Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said in its latest update on Friday that at least 31,490 Palestinians have been killed and 73,439 wounded by Israeli attacks since October 7.
