At least 27 Palestinians killed by the Israeli fire near the Center for Aid, say Gaza’s authorities

At least 27 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli fire while trying to collect help near distribution in Gaza, local employees say.

The civilians have been fired from tanks, quadcophage drones and helicopters near the Al-Alam roundabout, about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the Center for Distribution of Aid, said a spokesman for the Hamas Civil Protection Agency in Gaza, Mahmoud Bazal.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said his troops fired shots after identifying suspects moving toward them “deviate from the designated access routes.”

Israel has previously denied firing Palestinians in a similar incident on Sunday that Hamas Health Ministry said He killed 31 people and wounds nearly 200.

His refusal was in a direct contradiction with what dozens of civil witnesses, NGOs and health officials said.

The director of the Nasser Hospital in Khan Eunice, Atef Al -hut, described 24 dead and 37 injured, arriving with firearms on Tuesday morning, saying the Israeli forces had discovered fire on “crowds of civilians awaiting help in Western Rafa”.

A foreign physician working in the area told the BBC that it was a “total carnage” from 03:48 (01:48 BST) and that they were killed by victims.

In a statement, the IDF said its troops “did not prevent civilians from arriving from Gazan at humanitarian aid distribution sites.”

“The warning shots were fired about half a kilometer from the site of the distribution of humanitarian aid to several suspects who advanced to the troops in such a way that it was a threat to them,” she added.

Israel does not allow international news organizations, including the BBC, in GAZA, making the difficult conduct of what is happening in the territory.

The allocation of aid was recently taken over by the Humanitarian Gaza Foundation (GHF), a group supported by Israel and the United States, which aims to replace UN agencies and other organizations.

The GHF system requires civilians to go to distribution centers located in Israeli military control and staff from armed US security contractors.

The Palestinians are forced to travel long distances to collect the help – and then carry boxes of up to 20 kg (44 pounds).

The previous UN system has provided help directly to communities – to 400 sites in gas. It also distributed the aid based on a population register, guaranteeing all foods.

The new system seems to be working on the first time, the first service, which means that the Palestinians gather at night to provide space in the front of the line – before a supply collection race when the place of help opened hours later.

GHF is heavily criticized by the UN authorities and the broader international community for “arms” assistance and contradicts humanitarian principles.

In response to the incident on Tuesday, the group said: “While the aid distribution was being held safely and without incidents of our site today, we understand that IDF is investigating whether a number of civilians have been injured after moving beyond the defined safe corridor and to a closed war zone. It was a zone far beyond our secure area and operations.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said, “For the third day, people were killed around a place to distribute help.”

“The Palestinians are represented by the most gloomless of the election: they die of starvation or risk of being killed while trying to get access to scarce food provided through the militarized humanitarian aid mechanism of Israel,” he said in a statement.

During the incident on Sunday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said his hospital in Rafa had received a “mass tributary of victims” by 21 “, declared dead on arrival.

IDF said his findings from an initial investigation show that his forces did not fire people while they were close or at the center of aid.

GHF also denied allegations of injuries and casualties in his place and said they had been distributed by Hamas.

In response to the incident on Sunday, UN Secretary -General Antonio Guteres said in a statement: “I am horrified by the messages of killed and wounded to Palestinians while looking for help in Gaza yesterday

“I call for an immediate and independent investigation of these events and the perpetrators to be responsible.”

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas’s cross -border attack on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were hostage.

Since then, at least 54,470 people have been killed in Gaza, including 4 201 since Israel resumed its offensive, according to the Ministry of Health on the territory.