 "Stampede at Gaza food aid centre, 19 killed; another stabbed to death: Israel-backed organisation")
At least 20 Palestinians died on Wednesday near a US-backed aid group’s distribution centre as they were on their way to collect food. This comes as Israeli strikes killed 41 others, including 11 children, according to hospital officials.
The Gaza Humanitarian Fund, which has been at the centre of controversies, has said that while 19 people were killed in a stampede , one person was stabbed to death in the violence near a distribution hub in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
The aid group has accused Hamas of stirring violence near its depot and spreading misinformation that led to the incident, though it provided no evidence to support the claim.
Meanwhile, separate Israeli strikes in Khan Younis killed 19 people earlier and 22 people in northern Gaza, including 11 children. The Israeli military said it has struck more than 120 targets in the past 24 hours across the Gaza Strip , including Hamas military infrastructure of tunnels and weapons storage facilities.
Over 800 killed seeking aid
The United Nations has said that nearly 800 Palestinians have been killed in the last six weeks as they went to collect aid.
The UN, which refuses to cooperate with GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives, said last week that 798 people have been killed seeking aid between late May and July 7, including 615 “in the vicinity of the GHF sites”.
“Where people are lining up for essential supplies such as food and medicine, and where… they have a choice between being shot or being fed, this is unacceptable,” UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsWhy is GHF controversial?
GHF has been associated with the deaths of several Palestinians who have been shot dead in the past couple of weeks as they rushed to aid distribution centres run by the group. The group replaced UN-run relief operations in Gaza after they were banned from the region.
As many as 15 rights groups have warned the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) that they might face legal challenges over international law violations and have called on it and other private organisations to cease their operations in the region.
With inputs from agencies
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