Israeli airstrikes killed 15 Palestinians in Gaza early on Friday, while a hospital said another 20 people died in shootings while waiting for aid.
Meanwhile, the U.N. human rights office says it has recorded 613 killings in Gaza near humanitarian convoys and as Palestinians try to reach aid at distribution points run by an Israeli-backed American organization since it first began operations in late May.
Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the rights office was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings. But she said “it is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points” operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
In a message to The Associated Press, Shamdasani said that of the total tallied, 509 killings were “GHF-related,” meaning at or near its distribution sites.
“Information keeps coming in,” she added. “This is ongoing and it is unacceptable.”
Shamdasani originally told the U.N. briefing the killings were recorded both at GHF sites and near humanitarian convoys. She later clarified to the AP that the killings in the vicinity of GHF distribution points were “at or near their distribution sites.”
The count from the rights office, which used a strict methodology to verify such figures, was based in part on information from hospitals that receive dead bodies, she said.
More deaths reported near aid distribution sites occurred overnight Friday, according to officials in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
At least three Palestinians were killed near aid sites in Rafah, which is close to two operated by GHF. Another 17 were killed waiting for trucks to pass by in eastern Khan Younis in the Tahliya area.
Of the 15 Palestinians killed in Friday’s strikes, eight were women and one was a child, the hospital said. The strikes hit the Mawasi area, where many displaced Palestinians are sheltering in tents.
Israel’s military said it was looking into the reported strikes.
Israel’s military also said a soldier was killed in combat in the north of Gaza and it was investigating. Over 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the war began, including more than 400 during the fighting in Gaza.
The recent killings took place as efforts to halt the 21-month war appeared to be moving forward.
Hamas said Friday that it was holding discussions with leaders of other Palestinian factions to discuss a ceasefire proposal presented to it by Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen.
Hamas will give its final response to mediators after the discussions have concluded, the statement said.
The Health Ministry in Gaza said the number of Palestinians killed in the territory has passed 57,000. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says more than half of the dead are women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.
According to Palestinian witnesses and Gaza’s Health Ministry, several hundred people have been killed or wounded by Israeli troops when trying to reach the aid sites since they opened in May.
The military has repeatedly said it’s fired only warning shots, denies deliberately firing towards civilians, and says it’s looking into reports of civilian harm.
Source: AP
--Agencies
