Amid conflicting claims that Israeli forces had opened fire on individuals waiting to collect aid, the UN secretary-general has urged an independent inquiry into the death of Palestinians outside an aid distribution site in Gaza on Sunday.
While awaiting meals from the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), witnesses claimed being shot at.
The Red Cross said that 21 of the 179 wounded their hospital received were dead. The Civil Defence agency under Hamas estimated 31 deaths.
On Sunday, the Israeli military claimed allegations to this effect were inaccurate and denied its troops fired at residents close or within the scene.
The GHF stated the reports were “outright fabrications” and that evidence of an attack at or close to its plant was currently lacking.
“I am appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in Gaza yesterday,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a Monday statement.
According to an Israeli military statement, “warning shots were fired toward several suspects who advanced toward” forces roughly 1km from the spot.
The military added: “aware of reports regarding casualties, and the details of the incident are being thoroughly looked upon”.
Monday also saw the Civil Defence disclose that an Israeli strike on a residence in the northern town of Jabalia claimed fourteen lives, six of them children and three of them women. More than twenty people were thought to be missing beneath the wreckage of the demolished structure, it claimed.
Although the IDF did not respond immediately, in a statement it said that during the preceding day its planes had hit scores of targets across Gaza, including “military structures linked to terror organizations,” underground tunnels, and weapon stockpiles”.
Israel completely blocked Gaza on March 2 and restarted its military attack two weeks later, therefore ending a two-month truce with Hamas. According to the actions, they were aimed to persuade the armed organization to free the 58 captives currently under custody in Gaza—at least 20 of which are thought to be alive.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the Israeli military’s enlarged attack on 19 May would see forces “take control of all areas” of Gaza. He stated the next day Israel would also momentarily lift the siege and let a “basic” amount of food into Gaza.
Reacting to Hamas’s cross-border raid on October 7, 2023, which claimed over 1,200 lives and 251 hostages, Israel began a military operation in Gaza.
The territory’s Hamas-run health ministry claims that at least 54,470 people have died in Gaza since then, including 4, 201 since Israel started its attack.
