According to Palestinian information, there were more deaths and injuries during a distribution of aid supplies in the Gaza Strip. At least five people were killed and 30 others injured in gunfire and mass panic during the issue, the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Saturday. In Cyprus, a second ship loaded with relief supplies made its way towards the Gaza Strip. Fighting was again reported in the city of Gaza.
As the Red Crescent announced, thousands of people had gathered at a roundabout in Gaza early in the morning before the arrival of around 15 trucks loaded with flour, among other things. Three of those killed were shot.
Eyewitnesses told the AFP news agency that Gaza residents overseeing the distribution fired into the air. But Israeli soldiers also opened fire. According to reports, people were hit by trucks while trying to get food. AFP videos showed a convoy of trucks moving quickly past burning rubble near the distribution point in the darkness as people screamed and gunfire was heard.
When contacted, the Israeli military said it had no information about the incident. The roundabout in Gaza has been the scene of several chaotic and deadly aid distribution incidents in recent weeks.
More than two weeks after the arrival of a first ship with aid supplies in the Gaza Strip from the Cypriot port of Larnaca, a second ship delivery set off for the Palestinian territory from there on Saturday. According to the official Cypriot news agency CNA, the cargo ship “Jennifer” and two tugboats will be on the road for around 65 hours.
The US aid organization World Central Kitchen and the Spanish aid organization Open Arms want to transport almost 400 tons of relief supplies to the war zone this way. According to World Central Kitchen, the ship contains rice, pasta, flour, legumes and canned goods.
A makeshift dock was set up off the coast of the Gaza Strip to unload the cargo. In mid-March, an aid organization freighter with 200 tons of relief supplies on board was unloaded there under the supervision of the Israeli army.
After almost six months of war, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is devastating. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health care is no longer guaranteed. “Approximately 9,000 patients urgently need to be taken abroad to receive life-saving care,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the online service X.
With only “ten minimally functioning hospitals in the entire Gaza Strip,” thousands of patients are currently left without care. Before the war, there were 36 hospitals in the area, according to the WHO. Israel accuses the radical Islamic Hamas of maintaining military bases under hospitals and using civilians as human shields – and is therefore carrying out military operations at hospitals.
The Gaza Strip’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, has been under Israeli fire since mid-March. On Saturday, the Israeli army said it would continue operations there for the 13th day in a row. The army also said it had hit dozens of targets in the center of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas, for its part, said some of the attacks were aimed at “residences.” According to Hamas, Israeli troops are also present at Nasser Hospital and Al-Amal Hospital, both in the southern city of Khan Yunis.
The war, which has now lasted almost six months, was triggered by the major attack on Israel by the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas on October 7th. According to Israeli reports, at least 1,160 people were killed in the attack and 250 were kidnapped as hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Israel then announced that it would destroy Hamas and has since taken massive military action in the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, more than 32,700 people have now been killed.
