34 Palestinians killed in new shootings near food distribution centres, medics say

At least 34 Palestinians were killed Monday in new shootings on the roads leading to Israeliand USsupported food distribution centres in the Gaza Strip the local Health Ministry saidThe toll was the deadliest yet in the neardaily shootings that have taken place as thousands of Palestinians move through Israeli militarycontrolled areas to reach the food centresAs on previous days witnesses said Israeli troops opened fire in an attempt to control crowds The ministry says several hundred people have been killed and hundreds more wounded in such shootings since the centres run by the private contractor Gaza Humanitarian Foundation opened three weeks agoThere was no immediate comment by the Israeli military It has said in previous instances that troops fired warning shots at what it calls suspects approaching their positionsGazas Health Ministry said 33 Palestinians were killed trying to reach the GHF centre near the southern city of Rafah and another on route to a GHF hub in central Gaza It said four other people were killed elsewhereWitnesses describe crowds under fire Israeli troops started firing as thousands of Palestinians massed around 4 am at the Flag Roundabout before the scheduled opening time of the Rafah food centre according to Heba Jouda and Mohamed Abed two Palestinians who were in the crowdPeople fell to the ground trying to take cover they said ldquoFire was coming from everywhererdquo said Jouda who has repeatedly made the journey to get food for her family over the past week Its getting worse day by day she saidThe Red Cross field hospital nearby received some 200 injured Monday the highest single mass casualty event the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statementOnly a day earlier it said around 170 were brought to the facility most of them wounded by gunshots while trying to reach the GHF centre The Health Ministry toll made it the deadliest day around the food sites since June 2 when 31 people were killedThe Flag Roundabout hundreds of metres from the GHF centre has been a repeated scene of shootings It is on the route designated by the Israeli military for people to take to reach the centrePalestinians over the past weeks have said Israeli troops open fire to prevent people from moving past a certain point on the road before the scheduled opening of the centre or because people leave the roadA GHF spokesperson told The Associated Press on Sunday that ldquonone of the incidents to date have occurred at our sites or during operating hoursrdquo It said the incidents have involved aidseekers who were moving ldquoduring prohibited times or trying to take a short cutrdquo It said it was trying to improve safety measures including by recently moving the opening times from nighttime to daylight hoursA new aid distribution system Israel and the United States say the new GHF system is needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off aid GHF says there has been no violence in or around the sites themselvesUN agencies and major aid groups which have delivered humanitarian aid across Gaza since the start of the 20month IsraelHamas war have rejected the new system saying it cant meet the territorys needs and allows Israel to use aid as a weapon They deny there is widespread theft of aid by HamasPalestinian health officials say scores of people have been killed and hundreds wounded since the sites opened last month Experts have warned that Israels ongoing military campaign and restrictions on the entry of aid have put Gaza which is home to some 2 million Palestinians at risk of famineIsraels military campaign since October 2023 has killed over 55300 Palestinians according to Gazas Health Ministry It says women and children make up most of the dead but doesnt distinguish between civilians and combatants Israel says it has killed more than 20000 militants without providing evidenceHamas started the latest war in Gaza with its October 7 2023 attack on southern Israel with militants killing around 1200 people mostly civilians and taking another 251 hostage The militants still hold 53 hostages fewer than half of them alive after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other dealsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever