AhlulBayt News Agency: Israel has carried out two deadly attacks on newly established aid sites run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), killing dozens of Palestinians in the third and fourth such incidents since the aid distribution centers began operating last week.
Early on Sunday morning, Israeli forces opened fire at a GHF site in Rafah, killing at least 40 people and injuring 150 others.
Shortly after, another Palestinian was reported killed in a shooting at a GHF distribution point in Gaza City, south of the Netzarim Corridor.
The US-backed aid sites began operations in Gaza last Monday. The following morning, as thousands of Palestinians lined up for aid, Israeli forces opened fire, killing three Palestinians and injuring dozens.
GHF opened a second site on Wednesday, the same day Israeli forces again fired on aid seekers at one of its sites west of Rafah, killing at least six Palestinians.
The Gaza Media Office stated on Sunday that in less than a week, Israeli forces have killed 50 people and wounded hundreds at GHF sites.
“These killings reflect the nature of these areas as mass death traps, not humanitarian relief points,” the statement warned.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) condemned the attack, calling it “a genocide with international complicity and American participation”.
Hamas also condemned the “horrific massacre,” holding the Israeli regime and the US administration responsible for the crime.
GHF, an Israel-US-backed group based in Geneva, was established as an alternative to existing UN-affiliated aid delivery methods in Gaza.
GHF claims that since Israel allowed limited humanitarian aid into Gaza, it has delivered and distributed “many” truckloads of food among the population.
The Geneva-based group asserts that under its new delivery method, designed by Israel and the US, it will distribute 300 million meals in its first 90 days of operation.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson, Jens Laerke, criticized GHF, stating that “it is a distraction from what is actually needed, which is a reopening of all crossings into Gaza”.
Since October 7, 2023, when Israel began its war on Gaza, more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 124,000 others injured, most of whom are women and children.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has worsened dramatically since March 2, when Israel imposed an aid blockade on the besieged territory.
Since the blockade began, 57 children have died from malnutrition, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned last month that if the situation persists, nearly 71,000 children under five could suffer acute malnutrition over the next eleven months, citing a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
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