Accident occurred when Israeli army forced aid truck to take unsafe route, local media says
At least 25 people were killed and dozens injured when an aid truck overturned onto crowds waiting for aid delivery, as the Israeli army killed 19 others across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
The state news agency Wafa said the fatal incident took place after the Israeli army forced the truck to take an unsafe route in central Gaza.
The agency did not specify the exact location of the incident.
Meanwhile, a medical source said five Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire while waiting for aid delivery near a distribution point in western Rafah in southern Gaza.
Five family members were also killed, and more than 20 people were injured in a strike that hit a residential apartment in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
In Gaza City, a 6-month-old toddler was killed in an Israeli drone strike on a tent housing displaced families.
Israeli attacks also targeted two more homes in the same city, killing eight Palestinians, including children.
Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza for 18 years and, since March 2, has shut down all crossings, blocking the entry of humanitarian aid and worsening conditions for the territory’s 2.4 million population.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, Israel had allowed in just 843 aid trucks since July 27 – far short of the 6,000 trucks required to meet the daily needs of residents over 10 days.
Palestinian figures show that at least 1,568 aid seekers have been killed and 11,230 others injured by Israeli fire near US-run aid distribution centers in Gaza since May 27.
Gazan authorities accuse the Israeli army of "engineering chaos and starvation" in the enclave by deliberately refraining from securing the aid trucks and forcing Palestinians to seek previously bombed and non-restored roads "packed with starving civilians."
The Israeli-crafted aid scheme has been widely criticized as being a “death trap” for starving civilians.
Israel has been facing mounting outrage over its destructive war on Gaza, where more than 61,000 people have been killed since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave and brought it to the verge of famine.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
