Gaza death toll rises
At least 120 Palestinians have been killed and 474 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry. Three bodies of people killed in previous Israeli attacks were also recovered from the rubble in the war-torn territory, the ministry said.
At least 57 aid seekers were killed and more than 363 injured by Israel since this morning, bringing the total number of people killed at aid distribution centres to 224, with 1,858 others injured, it added.
The total death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza has risen to 55,104 killed and 127,394 injured since October 7, 2023, it said. Israel has killed 4,821 Palestinians and injured 15,353 since breaking a ceasefire in March this year.
Israel ‘deliberately’ targets aid seekers to perpetuate ‘policy of starvation’: Gaza’s Media Office
Gaza’s Government Media Office has released a statement, saying the Israeli military “is deliberately creating chaos in the Gaza Strip by perpetuating a policy of starvation and deliberately targeting and killing starving people seeking food”.
“This has been achieved through direct, often intentional, and sometimes random, killings by quadcopters, helicopters, or tanks, targeting young men, elderly people, and children who rushed to obtain whatever food aid was available to feed their children and families,” it said.
It said this strategy began 100 days ago, when a small number of aid trucks were allowed into the besieged enclave, only to be targeted by Israeli forces or by organised robberies carried out by armed gangs supported by Israeli forces.
It said it condemns “this criminal policy pursued by the occupation army against our Palestinian people, and we hold it fully responsible for this bloody chaos”, adding that it demands the international community take “immediate action”.
Palestinians, desperate for food due to an ongoing Israeli blockade
Seven killed in Gaza City’s Tuffah area
An Israeli attack in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighbourhood has killed at least seven people, according to local medical sources quoted by our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.
Palestinian man describes Israeli attack at Gaza aid site
We’ve spoken to Issam Wahdan, a Palestinian man whose brother was killed trying to get humanitarian aid near Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor this week.
“We went multiple times to get aid but we never got lucky. So, my brother and I decided to go early to the distribution centre,” Wahdan told Al Jazeera. “When we arrived, we were surprised to see quadcopters shooting at us. We didn’t know what to do, we had never experienced this before.“
The quadcopter threw a bomb at us. There were many wounded and martyred people, including my brother, who was wounded yesterday and died today. One of our best friends was martyred on the spot.”
Wahdan added that he and his brother felt they had no choice but to go to the aid distribution point.
“We need humanitarian aid so we have to go to the centre. My brother was married and had two boys and one daughter. His youngest is 18 months old,” he said. “His children are hungry and that forced him to go there to get some aid. When your children are hungry, you need to do anything to provide them with food.”
