Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed at least 27 Palestinians in Gaza early Saturday, including 16 who were waiting for humanitarian aid, sources said. Only 73 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza on Friday, far below the minimum daily requirement to sustain life amid Israel’s ongoing blockade, the government media office in the enclave also said Saturday.
According to medical sources, 12 bodies were transferred to the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City after Israeli forces opened fire at the aid distribution area along the Netzarim Corridor.
Three Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid near distribution centers on Al-Tina Street in southern Khan Younis were shot dead by Israeli forces.
In the town of Al-Zawaida, an Israeli airstrike targeted a family home killing five members of the same family including three children.
Another Palestinian was killed and several others wounded in a separate Israeli strike on a civilian gathering also in Al-Zawaida.
Meanwhile, three members of the same family were killed and others wounded when an Israeli drone dropped a bomb on tents sheltering displaced families near the Industrial Junction in northern Khan Younis.
Separately, two women were killed in strike on a tent in northwest of Khan Younis.
Overnight, Israeli forces continued to demolish homes and facilities in the eastern neighborhoods of Khan Younis, witnesses said.
In Rafah, Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians waiting for aid near a distribution center operated by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, killing one and injuring 25 others.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 60,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombing has destroyed the enclave and led to severe food shortages and deaths by starvation.
US envoy Steve Witkoff said he spent a few hours in Gaza on Friday to give U.S. President Donald Trump “a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza.”
But aid only trickled into Gaza on Friday, the media office said.
In a statement, the office said most of the trucks were looted due to a security vacuum deliberately created by Israeli forces, which it described as part of a broader policy of “engineered chaos and starvation.”
Authorities say that a minimum of 600 aid and fuel trucks must enter the enclave every day to meet urgent needs across the health, food, and service sectors, all of which have collapsed in the war.
“We condemn the continued closure of border crossings and the deliberate starvation campaign,” the office said, holding Israel and its allies “fully responsible” for the worsening humanitarian catastrophe.
The office demanded the immediate reopening of all crossings and the urgent entry of sufficient food, fuel, and infant formula.
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