At dawn on Tuesday, the occupation targeted hundreds of civilians as they attempted to obtain food aid from a distribution point in the Al-Alam area of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. The attack resulted in the deaths of 27 Palestinians and the injury of more than 90 others, some of whom are in critical condition, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
In a simultaneous escalation, the Israeli occupation forces launched a series of airstrikes that resulted in further casualties in various areas. Seven Palestinians were killed in a bombing that targeted the Bank of Palestine building in the Al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, while two Palestinians were killed in the "Joura al-Lut" area of Khan Yunis, and two others, one of them a child, were killed in the northern Gaza Strip.
Four Palestinians were killed and others injured in two separate airstrikes. The first targeted a house in the Al-Sha'af neighborhood in eastern Gaza, while the second targeted a gathering of civilians in the town of Jabalia in the north.
In Khan Yunis, three new airstrikes killed six people, including two children. The raids targeted a tent housing displaced people in the western part of the city, as well as two apartments in the Al-Amal and Al-Najjar neighborhoods.
In the central Gaza Strip, at least three Palestinians were killed and more than 20 others were injured in an attack on a tent housing displaced people south of Deir al-Balah.
In Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip, two more people were killed as a result of Israeli shelling, according to medical sources who transferred their bodies to Al-Shifa Hospital.
The Israeli occupation forces continue their heavy bombardment of residential areas, with an escalation in the bombing of buildings and the destruction of infrastructure in eastern Gaza City and Khan Yunis, amid an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
In this context, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric condemned the targeting of civilians seeking food, deeming the incident "unacceptable."
Dujarric called for an "immediate and independent" investigation into the attacks and for those responsible to be held accountable, stressing the continued call of Secretary-General António Guterres for an immediate end to the violence.
With full American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 179,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands displaced.
