The office reported in a statement that the occupation forces killed three starving civilians and injured 35 others near distribution centers in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, in continuation of the policy of starvation and systematic targeting of civilians that has been ongoing for 93 days.
For its part, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli aggression since October 7, 2023, has risen to "54,470 martyrs and 124,693 wounded," including "4,201 martyrs and 12,652 wounded" since Israel resumed its war of extermination on March 18.
A medical source also confirmed that three Palestinians were killed by Israeli army gunfire while on their way to receive aid under a new system run by Tel Aviv and Washington near the distribution center west of Rafah. Dozens of Palestinians were also injured. The source explained that a Palestinian died on Sunday from wounds he sustained while on his way to receive the aid.
Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation forces intensified their aerial and artillery bombardment of various areas across the Gaza Strip overnight, particularly in the northern governorate and east of Gaza City. They continued to bomb residential buildings east of the city, in the northern governorate, and east of Khan Yunis. Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli aircraft destroyed the Al-Ansar Mosque in Deir al-Balah after hitting it with three missiles.
A medical source told Anadolu Agency that nine Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting the Al-Barash family home in Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip. Four Palestinians were also killed and several others injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting a civilian gathering near the Abu Sharkh roundabout in the northern Gaza Strip.
In the central Gaza Strip, the source said a Palestinian was killed and two others were seriously injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting a vehicle belonging to the Bureij municipality. Eyewitnesses said the martyr was a municipal employee; there was no immediate comment. Two fishermen were also injured by Israeli gunfire while working on a Gaza City beach, according to the same source.
UN warnings of the dangers of the aid distribution system
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) confirmed that the US-backed aid distribution mechanism, supported by Israel, does not meet urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza. The agency called for the safe delivery of aid to Palestinians, who have been suffering from a worsening famine since last March.
UNRWA Director Sam Rose said in a statement that during ceasefires, the United Nations has demonstrated its ability to deliver aid safely and on a large scale, stressing that current routes do not meet the needs of the sick, elderly, and wounded. He added that UNRWA is running the largest ongoing food distribution operation in the world, and supplies are ready, but the urgent need is for direct access to those in need to avoid further loss of life.
The United Nations accuses Israel of deliberately pushing Palestinians toward famine by closing crossings to humanitarian aid, particularly food supplies, as part of a preparatory policy for forced displacement. This comes in light of the martyrdom of the child, Mohammed Hussein Aqeelan, who died this morning from wounds he sustained when the occupation forces bombed his family's home in Deir al-Balah, leading to the extermination of his entire family.
For its part, Doctors Without Borders described the US aid distribution system in the Gaza Strip, which is supported by Israel, as "dangerous" and largely lacking in "humane and effective" standards .
The killing of dozens of Palestinians and the wounding of hundreds more as they waited for food at distribution centers "demonstrates the danger of the new aid distribution system and its profound lack of humanity and effectiveness," Emergency Coordinator Claire Manera said in a statement released by the organization on Sunday.
Manira noted that the current distribution system "has resulted in avoidable civilian deaths and injuries." She added, "Humanitarian aid must be provided exclusively through humanitarian organizations that have the capacity and will to deliver it safely and effectively."
On May 27, Israel began implementing a plan to distribute humanitarian aid through the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in buffer zones in the southern Gaza Strip. However, distribution was interrupted several times due to the influx of hungry people and the resulting gunfire, resulting in deaths and injuries. These sites have become "mass killing traps," according to statements from the media office and the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The only dialysis center was destroyed.
In a related development, the Israeli occupation army on Sunday destroyed the only dialysis center serving the Gaza and northern Gaza governorates, after having put three partially functioning hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip out of service over the past two weeks.
The Gaza Ministry of Health said in a statement published Sunday evening that the Israeli army "blew up the Noura Al-Kaabi Kidney Dialysis Center in the northern Gaza Strip." The ministry added that the center's destruction puts the health of kidney patients in northern Gaza "on the brink of a catastrophe with unpredictable consequences."
She explained that 41% of kidney failure patients died during the war of extermination "due to being denied access to dialysis centers and the destruction of the centers and wards designated for them." She emphasized that the occupation army is working "according to a dangerous methodology to empty the northern Gaza Strip of hospitals and specialized care centers."
In turn, the Ministry's Director General, Munir al-Barash, said in a statement on Telegram that the Israeli army destroyed the Noura al-Kaabi Dialysis Center, located at the Indonesian Hospital, after it had been renovated and reopened weeks earlier.
He stated that this center is the only one in the Gaza and North governorates, serving more than 160 patients with kidney failure. He noted that the center operated "amidst the difficulties of fuel and medical supplies shortages" before it was completely destroyed.
Palestinian activists circulated a video on social media showing heavy Israeli machinery demolishing the center, which was surrounded by extensive destruction.
Over the past two weeks, medical sources reported that the Israeli army forcibly removed Al-Awda, Al-Indonesian, and Kamal Adwan hospitals from service as a result of direct targeting and the ongoing blockade. At the end of May, the Ministry of Health in Gaza stated that 22 of the Strip's 38 hospitals were out of service due to Israeli attacks, amid a near-total collapse of the health system.
With full American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 178,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands displaced.
