This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . The next check for changes will be

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c74d82pdxjzo

The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Dozens of Palestinians killed seeking aid, Gaza civil defence ministry says Dozens killed seeking food in Gaza, hospital says, as Witkoff arrives in Israel
(about 5 hours later)
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid since late May, according to the UNMore than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid since late May, according to the UN
Israeli gunfire killed at least 30 Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid in northern Gaza on Wednesday, according to the Hamas-run civil defence agency. More than 50 Palestinians were killed and 400 others injured while waiting for food near a crossing in northern Gaza on Wednesday, a hospital says, as US special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Israel.
A Gaza civil defence spokesperson told the AFP news agency that Israeli fire wounded around 300 more people. Israel said details of the incident "are still being examined". Footage showed casualties from the incident near the Zikim crossing being taken on carts to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said they fired "warning shots" after Gazans gathered around aid trucks 3km southwest of the Zikim crossing, but they were "not aware of any casualties" from IDF gunfire. Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency said Israeli forces fired at the crowds gathered around aid lorries. The Israeli military said troops fired "warning shots" but that it was "not aware of any casualties".
Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said his facility had received 35 bodies following the incident, according to AFP. Witkoff is due to meet Israeli officials who are considering punitive measures against Hamas after ceasefire and hostage release deal talks stalled last week.
Later, the hospital said at least 48 Palestinians were killed, according to the Associated Press. He will also reportedly visit aid distribution sites run by the controversial Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), amid growing international outrage over the dire humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory.
Separately, Gaza hospital sources told the BBC that six Palestinians were killed near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution centre in the Rafah area of Gaza on Wednesday morning. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry reported another seven malnutrition-related deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total to since the start of the war to 154.
The GHF told the BBC no killings took place at or near its sites on Wednesday. It came a day after the UN-backed global food security experts warned that the "worst-case scenario of famine" was "currently playing out" among the 2.1 million population.
The Israel Defense Force (IDF) told the BBC a "gathering of suspects" it said posed a threat to its troops were told to move away, and subsequently the army fired "warning shots" at a distance of "hundreds of metres away" from the distribution centre. UN agencies have also said there is man-made, mass starvation in Gaza and blamed Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies to Gaza. But Israel has insisted that there are no restrictions on aid deliveries and that there is "no starvation".
The military also said "an initial review suggests that the number of casualties reported does not align with the information held by the IDF". Despite that, four days ago it implemented measures that it has said are aimed at helping the UN and its partners collect aid from crossings and distribute it within Gaza, including daily "tactical pauses" in military operations in three areas and the creation of what it calls "designated humanitarian corridors".
According to the UN human rights office, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while trying to access food aid since late May. The UN's humanitarian office has said the tactical pauses do not allow for the continuous flow of supplies required to meet the immense needs of the population, and that desperately hungry crowds continue to offload supplies from lorries as they pass through Israeli crossings.
More than 150 people have died of malnutrition since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023, including 89 children, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says. The director of al-Shifa hospital, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, told the BBC on Thursday morning that it had received the bodies of 54 people who were killed in the incident in the Zikim area, as well as 412 people who were injured.
It comes as a group of UN-backed global food security experts warned that the "worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out" in Gaza, despite Israel this week announcing a series of "tactical pauses" in military operations to allow aid into the territory. On Wednesday night, the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency told AFP news agency that at least 30 people were killed when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd waiting for aid there.
Israel says it is not imposing restrictions on aid entering Gaza, claims rejected by some European nations and the UN. The Palestinian Red Crescent, meanwhile, reported that its al-Saraya field hospital and al-Quds hospital in Gaza City had received a total of six dead and 274 injured from the same incident.
This week, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the "trickle of aid" into Gaza "must become an ocean". The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that "dozens of Gazans was identified gathering around aid trucks in northern Gaza, and in close proximity to IDF troops operating in the area".
"Food, water, medicine and fuel must flow in waves and without obstruction. This nightmare must end," he added. "The troops fired warning shots in the area, not directed at the gathering, in response to the threat posed to them," it added.
On Thursday, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Israel to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza. "According to an initial inquiry, the IDF is not aware of any casualties as a result of IDF fire. The details of the incident are still being examined."
Witkoff's visit comes as Canada followed France and the UK in announcing plans to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September - the third G7 nation to do so. International journalists are blocked by Israel from entering Gaza independently, so it is difficult to verify what happened.
More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli's military campaign in Gaza since October 2023, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, including 18,592 children and 9,782 women. However, one man interviewed by a local freelance journalist working for the BBC said he knew a teenage boy who was killed.
Israel launched its offensive in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage. "In the current situation, there is no food or water. People go to get food from the Zikim area, where they are targeted. He went to bring flour but came back carried in the flour bag," he said.
"What was his fault? They sniped him in the middle of his head. He wasn't carrying a rock, or a weapon, or doing anything wrong. His only fault was being Palestinian and living in Gaza."
Abu Taha al-Kafarneh, a unemployed father of two who was the main breadwinner for his family, was also among the dead, another man told the BBC.
"He went to get a bag of flour to secure his food for the day... He didn't want to trade it, sell it, or profit from it like many of the looting merchants," he said.
He added: "They [Israel] claim they let food in, but instead increase the number of those killed and martyred as much as they can. The morgue is full."
On Wednesday morning, hospital sources in southern Gaza told the BBC that six people were killed near an aid distribution centre run by the GHF in the Rafah area.
The IDF told the BBC a "gathering of suspects" it said posed a threat to its troops were told to move away, and subsequently the army fired "warning shots" at a distance of "hundreds of metres away" from the site.
The military also said that "an initial review suggests that the number of casualties reported does not align with the information held by the IDF".
The GHF said no killings took place at or near its sites on Wednesday.
According to the UN human rights office, more than 1,050 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while trying to get food aid since the GHF began operating in late May.
It said last week that at least 766 of them had been killed in the vicinity of one of the GHF's four distribution centres, which are operated by US private security contractors and are located inside Israeli military zones.
Another 288 people had been killed near UN and other aid convoys, it added.
Israel has accused Hamas of instigating the chaos near the aid sites. It says its troops have only fired warning shots and that they do not intentionally shoot civilians.
The GHF has said the UN is using "false" figures from Gaza's health ministry.
The organisation has said it has handed out more than 98 million meals over the past two months and that it stands ready to work with the UN to deliver aid.
However, the UN has refused to co-operate with the GHF's system, saying it is unsafe and violates the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 60,138 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry.