AhlulBayt News Agency: The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has temporarily shut down its aid distribution sites in Gaza following deadly Israeli attacks on starving Palestinians.
In a statement on Wednesday, the GHF announced that its distribution centers would be closed for renovation, reorganization, and efficiency improvements.
The organization stated that aid distribution would resume on Thursday.
The closure follows warnings from the Israeli military advising against travel on roads leading to the distribution centers, labeling them as combat zones.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces opened fire near a GHF aid site in southern Gaza, killing 27 people.
On Wednesday, Israeli bombardment killed at least 32 people, including 12 in a single strike on a tent sheltering displaced civilians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
The ministry reported that 95 Palestinians had been killed and 440 others injured in the past 24 hours.
Additionally, two bodies from previous Israeli attacks were recovered from the rubble.
Medical sources warned that many victims remain trapped under debris or in the streets, with relief teams unable to reach them due to ongoing bombardment and infrastructure destruction.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has resulted in 54,607 deaths, according to the ministry.
Since breaking a ceasefire in March, Israel has killed 4,335 Palestinians and injured 13,300 others.
The US-backed aid sites began operations in Gaza last Monday. The following morning, Israeli forces opened fire on thousands of starving Palestinians waiting for aid, killing and injuring dozens.
GHF opened a second site last Wednesday, but Israeli forces again fired on aid seekers west of Rafah, killing more civilians.
The Gaza Media Office reported that in less than a week, Israeli forces had killed dozens and wounded hundreds at GHF sites.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the deaths of Palestinians seeking food aid, calling the loss of life in Gaza “unthinkable.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk denounced the attacks on starving civilians, stating they constitute a grave breach of international law and a war crime.
GHF, a Geneva-based aid group backed by the US and Israel, was established as an alternative to UN-affiliated aid organizations in Gaza.
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has labeled GHF’s aid distribution sites as “death traps” for starving civilians and a tool for forced displacement.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has worsened dramatically since March 18, when Israel resumed attacks and violated its ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
According to the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), Gaza is experiencing phase 5 famine, with nearly 71,000 children under five at risk of acute malnutrition.
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