47 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire near aid center in southern Gaza Strip (Civil Defense)

The Civil Defense in Gaza announced that at least 47 Palestinians were killed and more than 200 others wounded by Israeli army fire Tuesday morning near an aid center in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.

In what he described as "a new massacre against the hungry," Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal told AFP, "At least 47 martyrs and more than 200 wounded, including children, were taken to Nasser Hospital (in Khan Yunis) when the occupation forces opened fire on thousands of citizens who had gathered near an aid center distributing flour near the desalination plant" east of Khan Yunis.

Basal added, "The aggression began at around 8:35 this morning when Israeli drones opened fire on civilians. Minutes later, Israeli tanks fired several shells at civilians, resulting in a large number of martyrs and wounded." The Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza said that "dozens of people were injured in critical condition as a result of the occupation's massacre of citizens waiting for aid at Tahlia Roundabout."

The ministry noted that "the emergency, intensive care, and operating rooms are severely overcrowded with the arrival of large numbers of wounded and martyrs."

Dr. Marwan al-Hams, director general of field hospitals in Gaza, told AFP that Nasser Hospital "could not handle the large number of martyrs and wounded, filling the corridors with no access to treatment."

He said, "Many of the wounded are dying due to the lack of treatment, and we do not have the capabilities to perform surgeries."

A number of eyewitnesses reported that several Israeli tanks and military vehicles were positioned less than a kilometer east of the desalination plant area east of Khan Yunis, while Israeli drones were flying at low altitudes over the area.

The war in the Gaza Strip erupted following an unprecedented attack launched by Hamas against the Jewish state on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

According to the latest figures from the Hamas-run Health Ministry, 55,432 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, have been killed since the outbreak of the war. These include 5,139 since Israel resumed military operations on March 18 after a fragile two-month truce.