At least 51 people were killed and more than 200 others injured by Israeli fire as they waited for aid trucks to arrive in Khan Younis in southern Gaza early Tuesday morning, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
The incident marks the highest reported number of people killed while seeking aid over the past few weeks in the enclave. In total, nearly 400 Palestinians have been killed near aid centers since Israel lifted an 11-week total blockade on Gaza and allowed a trickle of aid to enter, according to the health ministry.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a Tuesday statement that “a gathering was identified adjacent to an aid distribution truck that got stuck in the area of Khan Younis, and in proximity to IDF troops operating in the area.”
The IDF said it was “aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals from IDF fire following the crowd’s approach,” that “details of the incident are under review,” and that it “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible to them while maintaining the safety of our troops.”
One eyewitness, Mohammed Abu Abed, said that a group of people was hit by an airstrike. He told CNN: “We were waiting for flour trucks. Suddenly, we were among the people and were hit by two missiles that tore apart people’s bodies, remains, pieces of flesh everywhere. I don’t know what to say; they killed the people, unarmed people who had nothing on them.”
“They went to bring bread for their children, just bread or flour. They killed us in cold blood,” Abu Abed said.
Video from the scene in Khan Younis on Tuesday shows dozens of bodies lying on the ground, covered in blood.
The latest scenes of death, violence and desperation underline a grim existence for over 2.1 million people living in Gaza – which the United Nations has warned is edging closer to famine.
Humanitarian organizations say that aid currently entering the enclave is only a tiny fraction of what is needed, with the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – the main supplier of aid in Gaza – coming under global scrutiny since it opened its distribution points late last month.
Palestinians en route to GHF distribution sites have repeatedly been fired upon since its inception, according to the health ministry, with some 3,000 people injured in addition to the fatalities. On Tuesday, eight people were also killed after coming under Israeli fire near an aid distribution site west of Rafah, the ministry said.
CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.
The GHF, an Israeli-US backed private contractor, has been criticized by multiple international aid agencies for setting up its distribution centers amid active combat zones. The organization has repeatedly said there has been no violence at their sites. But the GHF acknowledged earlier this month that there have been Palestinian casualties in the surrounding areas, which the organization described as “well beyond our secure distribution site.” A spokesman referred further questions to the Israeli military.
On Tuesday, Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on X: “Israel has weaponized food and blocked lifesaving aid. I urge immediate, impartial investigations into deadly attacks on desperate civilians trying to reach food distribution centres.”
One of those killed in Khan Younis on Tuesday was a 20-year-old man, who had traveled there in hope of returning with food for his family.
Speaking through tears, his mother said: “He didn’t go for a picnic. He went to bring food for his siblings and father.”
Nearby, at Nasser Medical Complex, hospital staff said that the entire ward was crowded with casualties. Video from the hospital showed dozens of people arriving with wounds, with others inside the hospital waiting for treatment as they laid on the floor.
One intensive care doctor told Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), an aid organization based in the United Kingdom, that the hospital had received on Tuesday “a large number of injured and killed from the Israeli army’s targeting of aid distribution points in Khan Younis.”
“The situation here is catastrophic beyond imagination,” the doctor said, adding that the morgue was completely full and that additional bodies had been placed outside the building.
“We are trying our best, but the numbers are overwhelming,” he said.
CNN’s Oren Liebermann contributing reporting.