Gaza Health Ministry says 68 people killed in 24 hours
In a statement, Gaza’s Health Ministry says:
- At least 68 people have been killed in the latest 24-hour reporting period.
- At least 182 wounded people have been taken to hospitals.
- A number of victims remain under the rubble and on the roads with ambulance and Civil Defence crews unable to reach them.
- Since October 7, 2023, the total death toll has risen to 55,432 with 128,923 wounded.
- Since March 18, the day Israel broke the Gaza ceasefire, 5,139 people have been killed and 16,882 wounded in Gaza.
Israel kills 56 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them desperately seeking aid
At least 56 Palestinians have been killed since dawn across Gaza, including 38 people who were seeking aid for their hungry families at distribution points, mostly in the Rafah area in the south, medical sources have told Al Jazeera.
The latest carnage on Monday came at the controversial sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by the United States and Israel and operates in areas that are tightly controlled by the Israeli military and that critics have slammed as “human slaughterhouses”.
The United Nations human rights chief condemned Israel’s conduct of its war in the besieged enclave, where deadly Israeli attacks continue unabated as the country exchanges missile attacks with regional foe Iran.
Speaking on Monday, Volker Turk said Israel’s “means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza”, where more than 20 months of Israeli attacks have killed at least 55,362 people, including thousands of children, according to health officials in Gaza.
More than 300 people have been killed so far near the perilous distribution sites and more than 2,000 wounded since GHF began its operations.
Two Palestinians trying to get food at the Rafah site, Heba Jouda and Mohammed Abed, told The Associated Press news agency that Israeli forces fired on crowds at about 4am (01:00 GMT) at the Flag Roundabout, a traffic circle just metres from the GHF centre, which has repeatedly been the scene of shootings.
Three more aid seekers were reported killed in northern Gaza and two in an attack on Gaza City.
“Israel has weaponised food and blocked lifesaving aid,” Turk said as he presented his annual report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“I urge immediate, impartial investigations into deadly attacks on desperate civilians to reach food distribution centres,” he added. “Disturbing, dehumanising rhetoric from senior Israeli government officials is reminiscent of the gravest of crimes.”
