Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 20 as war rages on after the opening of a new front with Iran
Another 11 Palestinians were killed overnight near food distribution points run by an Israeli- and U.S.-supported humanitarian group in the latest of almost daily shootings near the sites since they opened last month. Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have fired on the crowds, while the military says it has only fired warning shots near people it describes as suspects who approached its forces.
The sites are in military zones that are off limits to independent media. Israel's military said it fired warning shots overnight to distance a group of people near troops operating in the Netzarim corridor, and an aircraft struck a person who kept advancing.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private contractor that operates the sites, said they were closed Saturday. But witnesses said thousands had gathered near the sites anyway, desperate for food as Israel's blockade and military campaign have driven the territory to the brink of famine.
Al Awda Hospital said it received eight bodies and at least 125 wounded people from a shooting near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation site in central Gaza.
Mohamed Abu Hussein, a resident of the built-up Bureij refugee camp nearby, said Israeli forces opened fire toward the crowd about a half-mile from the food distribution point. He said he saw several people fall to the ground as thousands ran away.
In the southern city of Khan Yunis, Nasser Hospital said it received 16 dead, including five women, from multiple Israeli strikes late Friday and early Saturday. It said three more men were killed near two Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid sites in the southernmost city of Rafah, now a mostly uninhabited military zone. Israel's military said it was unaware of any gunfire there during that time overnight.
An Israeli strike in Deir al Balah, central Gaza, killed four people, Al Aqsa Hospital said.
Meanwhile, Israel's military said two projectiles came from Gaza and fell in open areas, with no injuries.
Israel and the United States say the new aid system is intended to replace a U.N.-run network that has distributed aid across Gaza through 20 months of war. They accuse Hamas of siphoning off the aid and reselling it to fund its militant activities.
U.N. officials deny Hamas has diverted significant amounts of aid and say the new system is unable to meet mounting needs. They say the new system has militarized aid by allowing Israel to decide who has access and by forcing Palestinians to travel long distances or relocate again after waves of displacement.
They say the U.N. has struggled to deliver aid even after Israel eased its blockade last month because of military restrictions and rising lawlessness.
Hamas, which is allied with Iran, sparked the war when its fighters led a rampage into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. They still hold 53 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed more than 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up more than half of the dead but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in count.
The offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced 90% of the population of some 2 million Palestinians, leaving them almost entirely reliant on international aid.
The war has drawn in Iran and its other allies across the region, igniting a chain of events that led to Israel's major strikes on Iran's nuclear and military facilities Friday.
Shurafa and Magdy write for the Associated Press. Magdy reported from Cairo.
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