Twenty-seven people were killed Tuesday in southern Gaza after Israeli soldiers opened fire near a US-backed humanitarian aid distribution center, an incident the Israeli military announced it had opened an investigation into.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres quickly condemned the shooting, saying it was "unacceptable that civilians lose their lives simply because they were seeking food," and reiterating the call for an independent investigation into the incident.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said, "Attacks directed against civilians constitute a grave violation of international law and a war crime."
Israel is facing increasing international pressure over the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, which has been reduced to rubble. The UN says the entire population of the besieged enclave is at risk of starvation, and that the aid allowed in just days after a crippling blockade that lasted more than two months is just a "drop in the ocean."
Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for the Civil Defense in Gaza, announced that "27 martyrs and more than 90 wounded were transferred to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, the result of the massacre of citizens waiting for American aid near Al-Alam Roundabout near the Al-Mawasi area west of Rafah."
Basal said that "Israeli occupation forces opened fire from tanks and drones on thousands of citizens who had gathered since dawn today near Al-Alam Roundabout... They were on their way to the American aid center in Rafah to receive food aid."
The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed the deaths of 27 people on Tuesday evening, in a statement that did not mention the Israeli army.
Separately, the Civil Defense in Gaza reported the deaths of 19 Palestinians in other attacks as Israel continues to intensify its operations, launching raids, shelling, and destruction across the Strip.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army announced that it was investigating an incident that occurred Tuesday in which its forces fired "warning shots" at residents of Gaza near an aid distribution center.
"Earlier today, (Israeli) forces fired warning shots about half a kilometer from the aid distribution area, at suspects who were approaching in a manner that endangered the safety of the soldiers," IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Avi Deveren said in a televised statement.
The White House announced that it was "looking into the veracity" of reports of gunfire and casualties near the aid center.
At Nasser Hospital, the husband and children of Reem al-Akhras, who was killed at the Al-Alam roundabout, were in a state of deep grief.
"How could I leave you, Mom?" her son, Zein, cried as he lay over her body, which was wrapped in a white blanket. "She went to bring us some food, and this is what happened to her."
The Al-Alam roundabout is located about a kilometer from a distribution center set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in cooperation with Israel. The organization, whose funding is opaque, is run by a private American security company. The United Nations and other aid agencies have refused to cooperate with it, saying it does not respect basic humanitarian principles and that its sole purpose is to further Israel's military objectives in Gaza.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operations more than a week ago, following a partial lifting of the Israeli-imposed blockade that has deprived Gaza residents of any humanitarian aid.
The US State Department on Tuesday affirmed that the organization's humanitarian assistance is a "success," while acknowledging that it could be "improved."
Rania al-Astal, a 30-year-old displaced person in the Mawasi area, told AFP that she had left with her husband to try to get food from the center, leaving her children with her mother in their tent.
"Sporadic gunfire began around 5:00 a.m. Whenever people got close to the Al-Alam roundabout, they were targeted by gunfire... but people didn't care and all rushed out at the same time. That's when the forces began firing heavily," she said.
Mohammed al-Shaer, a 44-year-old resident of the area who was among the crowd, said that citizens began moving toward the aid center, "and suddenly, Israeli forces fired in the air, then started shooting directly at people."
He added, "A helicopter and a quadcopter drone began firing at the crowds to prevent them from approaching the tank barrier. There were deaths and injuries."
In response to a question, he said, "No. I did not reach the center, and we did not receive any food."
Meanwhile, the Israeli army announced on Tuesday that three soldiers were killed during clashes in the northern Gaza Strip, bringing its death toll since the start of the war on October 7, 2023, to 424.
On Tuesday evening, the army announced that it had bombed southern Syria after detecting two projectiles fired from the aforementioned country toward Israeli territory. They landed in uninhabited areas without causing any damage.
Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz held Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa "directly responsible" for the launching of the projectiles.
A ministry statement quoted Katz as saying, "We hold the president of Syria directly responsible for any threat or shelling targeting the State of Israel," adding that "a comprehensive response will be carried out soon."
Of the 251 people kidnapped during the Hamas attack on the Jewish state on October 7, 2023, 57 remain in Gaza, with the army confirming at least 34 deaths.
According to the latest toll released Tuesday by the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, 54,510 Palestinians have been killed and 124,901 wounded since the outbreak of the war, including 4,240 deaths since March 18, when the fragile two-month truce between Israel and Hamas collapsed.
The war erupted following an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,218 people, most of them civilians, according to official Israeli figures.
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