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The relatives of Palestinians who lost their lives after Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd gathered at an aid distribution point in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Tuesday. (Abdallah F.s. Alattar/Anadolu/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)
By Abeer Salman, Kareem Khadder and Lucas Lilieholm, CNN
Jerusalem (CNN) — Palestinians on their way to receive aid from a distribution site in southern Gaza have come under fire for a third consecutive day, with nearly 30 people killed and dozens wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health and Nasser hospital.
The ministry said Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians as they made their way to the distribution site in Tel al-Sultan in Rafah early Tuesday.
The Israeli military said its forces opened fire multiple times after identifying “several suspects moving toward them, deviating from the designated access routes.”
“The troops carried out warning fire, and after the suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near a few individual suspects who advanced toward the troops,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement, which also said they are looking into reports of casualties.
At least 27 people were killed and dozens injured, according to the Palestinian health ministry and the director of Nasser hospital in Gaza.
Footage obtained by CNN showed people arriving at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, many on stretchers.
Dr. Marwan al-Hams, the head of field hospitals in Gaza, said Nasser has been overwhelmed by the number of casualties coming in.
“Only if someone dies inside the intensive care units, only then can we make availability for the next patient,” he told CNN. Al-Hams said the injuries he was seeing were primarily the result of gunfire and concentrated in patients’ upper bodies.
The hospital called for urgent blood donations.
Nawal Al-Masri, whose young son was injured as he approached the area to get aid, said the site is a “trap.”
“Is this what they call aid? This aid is to kill people,” Al-Masri told CNN.” What are we supposed to do when a child like this goes and tried to get a bag of flour of two kilos? Is this right by any definition?”
The United Nations’ human rights chief, Volker Turk, said in a statement that “deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza, are unconscionable… There must be a prompt and impartial investigation into each of these attacks, and those responsible held to account.”
Turk added that Palestinians have been given “the grimmest of choices: die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available through Israel’s militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism.”
The gunfire on Tuesday occurred west of Rafah in the area surrounding the Al-Alam roundabout, according to paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society, near the same location as shooting incidents the last two days.
The area is part of an Israeli military operation across Khan Younis, according to a diplomat who monitors developments in Gaza, who said Israeli forces fired toward a large group of Palestinians they perceived as “an imminent threat” as the Palestinians tried to reach the aid distribution site.
Early Tuesday morning, a Facebook page which the controversial US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has used to publicize information about the opening of distribution sites said one location would be open in southern Gaza and warned residents to adhere to a designated corridor starting at 5 a.m.
“The IDF will be in the area to secure the safe passage,” the statement said.
But approximately one hour later, the page said the site will be closed.
The site ultimately opened and distributed 21 truckloads of food boxes, according to GHF. The aid was distributed “safely and without incident at our site today,” the organization said, adding that the area beyond its security perimeter is “well beyond our secure distribution site and control.”
Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, defended the distribution effort and said Israel would continue to support it.
“This direct aid, bypassing Hamas, is changing the situation on the ground and weakening Hamas’s grip on the population,” Haskel said at a news conference.
Tuesday’s incident marks the third day in a row that people have been killed on their way to the GHF distribution point west of Rafah while attempting to secure food as famine conditions worsen in Gaza following an 11-week blockade by Israel.
Three Palestinians were shot dead and dozens wounded as they were on their way to access aid from the site on Monday morning, Palestinian and hospital authorities said. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that Israeli forces fired warning shots approximately a kilometer from the aid distribution site and that it was looking into the details of the incident.
On Sunday, dozens of Palestinians were shot dead by the Israeli military in the same area, according to Palestinian officials and eyewitnesses. Israel’s military denied that its troops fired “within or near” the aid distribution site.
Palestinian officials said 31 people had been killed and scores wounded in Sunday’s incident. An Israeli military source acknowledged that Israeli forces fired toward individuals about one kilometer (1093 yards) away before the aid site opened.
The-CNN-Wire
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