Israeli tank shelling on crowds waiting for aid kills 45 Palestinians in Khan Younis
17 June 2025, 08:59
Israeli tank shellfire has killed 45 Palestinians who were waiting for aid, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has said.
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It happened in the southern city of Khan Younis on Tuesday morning as crowds awaited aid trucks.
Hundreds of people have also reportedly been injured - with dozens said to be critical.
The number of fatalities is expected to rise.
The IDF is yet to comment on this latest event.
On Monday, health officials said 34 Palestinians were shot dead in areas near food distribution centres in the south of the Gaza Strip.
The toll was the deadliest yet in the near-daily shootings that have taken place as thousands of Palestinians move through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach the food centres run by the private contractor, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Two witnesses said Israeli troops opened fire early on Monday in an attempt to control the crowds.
There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military. It has said in previous instances that troops fired warning shots at what it calls suspects approaching their positions.
Gaza's health ministry said most of the dead were trying to reach the GHF centre near the southern city of Rafah, though a few were on the roads to a newly opened hub on the outskirts of the nearby city of Khan Younis.
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The military has designated specific routes to access the food centres, and GHF has warned aid-seekers that leaving the roads is dangerous, but many do in an attempt to get to the food first.
Israel and the United States say the new GHF system is needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off aid.
GHF says there has been no violence in or around the sites themselves.
UN agencies and major aid groups, which have delivered humanitarian aid across Gaza since the start of the 20-month Israel-Hamas war, have rejected the new system, saying it cannot meet the territory's needs and allows Israel to use aid as a weapon.
They deny there is widespread theft of aid by Hamas.
Palestinian health officials say scores of people have been killed and hundreds wounded since the sites opened last month.
Experts have warned that Israel's ongoing military campaign and restrictions on the entry of aid have put Gaza, which is home to some 2.0 million Palestinians, at risk of famine.
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