Israel warns Gaza residents to avoid aid routes after 27 killed in shooting near food centres

Israel’s military has warned Gaza residents to avoid roads leading to aid distribution centres, calling them “combat zones”, after at least 27 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire while waiting for food at US-backed relief points.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said its aid centres would remain closed on Wednesday for “updates and improvements”, and that it was in talks with the Israeli military to strengthen security around the sites. Operations are expected to resume on Thursday.

Gaza’s health ministry said 27 people were killed early Tuesday while waiting for food at a GHF distribution centre. It was the third similar incident in three days.

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For the first time, Israel admitted that its forces had opened fire on Palestinians approaching them. The Israeli military said troops fired near the food centre after spotting “a number of suspects moving towards them.

“The forces fired evasive shots, and after they did not move away, additional shots were fired near the individual suspects who were advancing towards the forces.

“The individuals were moving towards forces in a way that posed a threat to them,” the military said.

The Israeli military said its troops fired “near a few individual suspects” who strayed from the designated path and came close to its forces, ignoring warning shots. This happened about half a kilometre from the GHF aid centre. The IDF said the individuals appeared to pose a threat.

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Later, IDF spokesperson Effie Defrin denied claims that Israeli forces shot at civilians at the aid site, calling the accusations “completely unfounded and false.” He said the incident was being investigated.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run media office accused Israel of turning aid centres into “death traps,” claiming 102 people were killed and 490 injured in just eight days since the centres opened on 27 May.

It said the centres were attracting desperate civilians due to famine and called for aid to be distributed by UN and neutral international agencies instead of the GHF.