At least 20 Palestinians were killed and 150 wounded in Israeli shelling of hungry people waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza City on Thursday, the Health Ministry said.
“The death toll is likely to rise as many of the injured are in critical condition,” Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.
According to eyewitnesses, Palestinians who were waiting for humanitarian aid at the Kuwait Junction in Gaza City were targeted by artillery shells and gunfire.
Israel imposed a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip after a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, leaving the population to struggle with catastrophic humanitarian conditions.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA) announced on January 2 that humanitarian aid had entered northern Gaza, for the first time since the end of a one-week humanitarian pause on December 27.
UNRWA spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna said five to seven aid trucks entered northern Gaza daily.
“This aid is not enough for the needs of the population of northern Gaza. “Tens of thousands are starving there,” he told AA.
Israel launched an offensive on the Gaza Strip after a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, which killed more than 25,700 and wounded 63,740 Palestinians. About 1,200 Israelis were killed in the Hamas attack.
According to United Nations data, due to the Israeli offensive, 85 percent of Gaza’s population has been internally displaced and faces an acute shortage of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.
