Israel Fires on, Kills 25 in Gaza      06/24 06:04

   

   DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Israeli forces and drones opened fire 
toward hundreds of people waiting for aid trucks in central Gaza early Tuesday, 
killing at least 25 people, Palestinian witnesses and hospitals said.

   Responding to an Associated Press inquiry, the military said it was 
reviewing reports of casualties from Israeli fire after a group of people 
approached troops in an area adjunct to the east-west Netzarim corridor, which 
bisects Gaza.

   The Awda hospital in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp, which received the 
victims, said the Palestinians were waiting for the trucks on the Salah al-Din 
Road south of Wadi Gaza.

   Witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces opened fire as 
people were advancing eastward to be close to the approaching trucks.

   "It was a massacre," said Ahmed Halawa. He said tanks and drones fired at 
people, "even as we were fleeing. Many people were either martyred or wounded."

   Hossam Abu Shahada, another eyewitness, said drones were flying over the 
area, watching the crowds first, then there was gunfire from tanks and drones 
as people were moving eastward. He described a "chaotic and bloody" scene as 
people were attempting to escape.

   He said he saw at least three people lying on the ground motionless and many 
others wounded as he fled the site.

   The Awda hospital said another 146 Palestinians were wounded. Among them 
were 62 in critical condition, who were transferred to other hospitals in 
central Gaza, it said.

   In the central town of Deir al-Balah, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital said it 
received the bodies of six people who were killed in the same incident.

   Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces have 
repeatedly opened fire on crowds seeking desperately needed food, killing 
hundreds of people in recent weeks. The military says it has fired warning 
shots at people it said approached its forces in a suspicious manner.

   The deaths were the latest in Israel-Hamas war in Gaza which killed about 
56,000 Palestinians, according to the strip's health ministry.

   The ministry doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants but say 
more than a half of the dead were women and children.

   Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on 
southern Israel, in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly 
civilians, and took another 251 hostages.

   Most of the hostages were released by ceasefire agreements.