The Latest: 20 die in stampede at Gaza food distribution site as Israeli strikes kill 41 others
The Gaza Humanitarian Fund, an American organization backed by Israel to feed the Gaza Strip's population, said 19 people were trampled in a stampede and one person was fatally stabbed at a hub in the southern city of Khan Younis. The organization accused the Hamas militant group of fomenting panic and spreading misinformation that led to the violence, though it provided no evidence to support the claim.
The deaths came as Israeli strikes killed 41 others, including 11 children, in Gaza City and Khan Younis, according to hospital officials. The Israeli military said it has struck more than 120 targets in the past 24 hours across the Gaza Strip, including Hamas military infrastructure of tunnels and weapons storage facilities.
Israel blames Hamas for the civilian deaths because the group often operates in residential areas.
Here's the latest:
Israel strikes near defense ministry in Damascus
The Israeli army said Wednesday that it struck near the entrance to the Syrian Ministry of Defense in Damascus, as clashes continued in the southern Syrian city of Sweida after a ceasefire between government forces and Druze armed groups collapsed.
Israel has launched a series of airstrikes on convoys of government forces in southern Syria since the clashes erupted and has beefed up forces on the border. It has said it is acting to protect the Druze religious minority.
The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.
Stun grenades and pepper spray caused chaos at food distribution site
Gaza's Health Ministry and witnesses said GHF workers used tear gas against the crowd outside one of its food distribution hubs, causing a panic. The ministry said that it was the first time people have been killed by a stampede at the aid sites.
'They used stun grenades and pepper spray against us. They had aid inside, but they intentionally did not distribute it to let people crowd outside,″ said Abdullah Aleyat, who was at the GHF site on Wednesday morning.
Omar Al-Najjar, a resident of the nearby city of Rafah, said people were gasping for air, possibly from tear gas.
The injuries were 'not from gunfire, but from people clustering and pushing against each other,' Al-Najjar said as he carried an injured stranger to a hospital.
The sites are inside Israeli military zones protected by private American contractors. Israel troops surround the sites, but the army says they are not in the immediate vicinity.
The United Nations human rights office and Gaza's Health Ministry said Tuesday that 875 Palestinians in the enclave have been killed while seeking food since May, with 674 of those in the vicinity of aid distribution sites run by GHF.
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Newborn baby starves to death in Gaza as Israel kills 116 more Palestinians
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Boston Globe
14 hours ago
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32 Palestinians shot dead trying to reach US group's food distribution sites, Gaza authorities say
Israel's army, which isn't at the sites but secures them from a distance, said Saturday that it fired warning shots near Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, after a group of suspects approached troops and ignored calls to keep their distance. It said the incident occurred overnight when the distribution site was closed. GHF said that there were no incidents at or near its sites and added, 'we have repeatedly warned aid seekers not to travel to our sites overnight and early morning hours.' Advertisement Most of Saturday's deaths occurred as Palestinians massed around 2 miles from a GHF aid distribution center near the southern city of Khan Younis. Mahmoud Mokeimar said that he was walking with masses of people, mostly young men, toward the hub. Troops fired warning shots, and then opened fire. 'The occupation opened fire at us indiscriminately,' he said. He said that he saw at least three motionless bodies on the ground and many wounded people fleeing. Advertisement Akram Aker, another witness, said that troops fired machine guns mounted on tanks and drones between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. 'They encircled us and started firing directly at us,' Aker said. He said he saw many casualties on the ground. Sanaa al-Jaberi said that there was shooting after the site opened as people seeking aid broke into a run. 'Is this food or death? Why? They don't talk with us, they only shoot us,' she said, and showed off her empty bag. Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said that it received 25 bodies. Seven other people, including one woman, were killed in the Shakoush area, hundreds of meters or yards north of another GHF hub in Rafah, the hospital said. Dr. Mohamed Saker, the head of Nasser's nursing department, said that it received 70 wounded people. He told The Associated Press that most people were shot in the head and chest. 'The situation is difficult and tragic,' he said, adding that the facility lacks medical supplies. 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'To commit an act of sacrilege by desecrating a place that is supposed to be a place of worship — it's an act of terror and it's a crime,' he said. The West Bank has experienced a surge in settler violence since the start of the war in Gaza. Palestinians say Israeli security forces have done little to stop the violence, and few settlers have been punished. ___ Samy Magdy reported from Cairo. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at
