At least 27 people were killed by Israeli forces while trying to get food and six others died from starvation or malnutrition in Gaza, Palestinian officials said, amid a regional outcry over an Israeli minister’s visit to Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site.
Witnesses said Israeli forces fired on hungry crowds who were attempting to get food aid from a distribution site run by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the south of the territory, with some describing the fire as indiscriminate. Sunday’s killings were the latest in a string of deadly shootings targeting hungry people. At least 1,400 people have been killed while seeking aid since 27 May, most of whom were killed near GHF sites, while others were killed along the routes of aid convoys, the UN said.
In total, 119 people were killed in Gaza by Israeli shootings and strikes over the last 24 hours, including those seeking aid, the Gaza health ministry said. The Palestinian Red Crescent said the Israeli military targeted its headquarters in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Sunday, killing one staffer and wounding three more. While Israeli strikes continued in Gaza, Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, led prayers at al-Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, provoking outrage among regional powers. The site is under Jordanian custodianship; under a decades-old agreement, Jews are allowed to visit but not pray there.
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