 "Over 20 Palestinians killed as Israeli strikes hit aid seekers in Gaza")
Israeli strikes killed 14 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and another 10 were slain when they sought food in the beleaguered enclave, medical authorities in Gaza told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Two American aid workers from the Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) were also injured in southern Gaza during an attack on a food distribution location, which the organisation said was carried out by Hamas without offering any more proof.
The fresh killing comes as US-led ceasefire talks to end a nearly 21-month war appear to be gaining traction.
Hamas responded “positively” late Friday to the new US plan for a 60-day truce, but warned further negotiations were required on implementation.
Hamas has been seeking guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. President Donald Trump has been pushing for an agreement and is set to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House next week to discuss a deal.
Palestinians killed in southern Gaza
The Israeli airstrikes struck tents in the Muwasi area on the southern end of Gaza’s Mediterranean coast, killing seven people, including a Palestinian doctor and his three children, according to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
Four others were killed in the town of Bani Suheila in southern Gaza, and three people were killed in three different strikes in Khan Younis. The Israeli army did not provide immediate comment on the strikes.
Separately, eight Palestinians were killed near a GHF aid distribution site in the southern city of Rafah, the hospital said. One Palestinian was also killed near another GHF point in Rafah. It was not clear how far away the Palestinians were from the sites.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsGHF denied the killings happened near their sites. Previously the organization has said no one has been shot at its sites, which are guarded by private contractors but can only be accessed by passing Israeli military positions hundreds of meters away.
The army had no immediate comment, but has said it fires warning shots as a crowd-control measure and it only aims at people when its troops are threatened.
One Palestinian was also killed waiting in crowds for aid trucks in eastern Khan Younis, officials at Nasser Hospital said. The United Nations and other international organizations bring in their own supplies of aid. It was unclear to which organization the aid trucks the Palestinians were waiting for belonged to, but the incident did not appear to be connected to GHF operations.
Crowds of Palestinians often wait for trucks and unload or loot their contents before they reach their destinations. These trucks must pass through areas under Israeli military control. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.
American aid workers wounded
The GHF said the two American aid workers were injured on Saturday morning when assailants threw grenades at a distribution site in Khan Younis. It blamed Hamas for the attack but gave no further evidence.
The foundation later posted a photo of the fragments of the explosive device and claimed, without providing evidence, that it was detonated by Hamas militants. It said the injuries were not life-threatening, and the two men received medical attention.
The GHF — a US- and Israeli-backed initiative meant to bypass the U.N. — distributes aid from four sites that are surrounded by Israeli troops, three of which are in the far south of Gaza.
The U.N. and other humanitarian groups have rejected the GHF system, saying it allows Israel to use food as a weapon, violates humanitarian principles and it’s not effective.
Israel says Hamas has been siphoning off aid delivered by the U.N. — a claim the U.N. denies. Hamas has urged Palestinians not to cooperate with the GHF.
GHF, which is registered in Delaware, began distributing food in May to Palestinians, who say Israeli troops open fire almost every day toward crowds on roads heading to the distribution points, through Israeli military zones. Several hundred people have been killed and hundreds more wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry and witnesses.
The war in Gaza was set off after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, displaced nearly all of Gaza’s 2 million people and left many on the edge of famine.
The ministry is led by medical professionals employed by Gaza’s Hamas government. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but its figures are seen by the U.N. and other international organizations as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
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