Ten people, including six children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike while they were waiting to fill water containers in central Gaza on Sunday, according to emergency services.
Their bodies were taken to Al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat, which also treated 16 wounded, including seven children, said a doctor.
Witnesses stated that a drone fired a missile at a crowd of people who were waiting with empty canisters by a water tanker in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
The Israeli military said there was a “technical error” in the strike, which allegedly targeted a member of Islamic Jihad, and that the missile fell several dozen meters from the intended target. They added that the “incident is under investigation.”
“Regret for the death of innocent civilians”
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) stated they are aware of the “claims of casualties in that area as a result” and are making efforts to minimize harm to civilians “as much as possible and regret every loss of innocent civilian life.”
Unverified footage shared online after the strike shows bloody children and lifeless bodies, with screams of panic and despair.
Residents rushed to the scene and transported the injured in private vehicles and animal-drawn carts.
A spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense said that an additional 19 Palestinians were killed in three separate attacks on residential buildings in central Gaza and Gaza City on Sunday.
Separately, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stated that in the past six weeks, its field hospital in Rafah, in southern Gaza, treated more mass casualty cases than in the previous year.
On Saturday, the hospital received 132 patients with “weapon-related injuries,” of whom 31 died.
The “vast majority” of patients had gunshot wounds, and “all conscious patients” stated they were trying to reach a food distribution point.
Since May 27th, the hospital has treated more than 3.400 patients wounded by weapons and recorded more than 250 deaths, more than in all similar incidents during the previous year.
“The alarming frequency and scale of these mass casualty incidents highlight the horrific conditions under which civilians in Gaza are living,” the ICRC stated.
“Warning” shots
On Saturday, the Nasser hospital in southern Gaza announced that 24 people were killed near an aid distribution point, where witnesses said Israeli soldiers opened fire as people tried to reach food.
The IDF said there were “no known injuries” from Israeli fire near that site. Separately, an Israeli military official said warning shots were fired to disperse people whom the IDF considered a threat.
The United Nations (UN) Office for Human Rights stated on Friday that it has so far recorded 789 deaths related to humanitarian aid distribution.
Of those, 615 occurred near sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), supported by the United States (U.S.) and Israel, which were opened on May 27th and are operated by U.S. private security contractors within military zones in southern and central Gaza.
The remaining 183 killings were recorded near UN convoys and other aid organizations.
The Israeli military acknowledges that there have been incidents in which civilians were harmed and says it is working to reduce “potential friction between the population and [Israeli] forces as much as possible.”
