7 Palestinians killed as Israeli forces shell Palestinians waiting for aid in Gaza

By Anadolu staff

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - At least seven Palestinians were killed and several others were injured on Saturday in a new Israeli bombardment targeting Palestinians waiting for aid southeast of Gaza City.

“The occupation forces targeted a group of citizens who were waiting to receive aid at the Kuwait Roundabout in Gaza City, leading to the death of seven of them and the injury of several others,” the Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported.

The Israeli army bombed with artillery shells dozens of Palestinians who were waiting for aid trucks at the Kuwait roundabout in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City, eyewitnesses told Anadolu.

This is not the first time that Israel has targeted aid convoys in Gaza. Last Tuesday, 23 Palestinians were killed and several others were injured in an Israeli bombing that targeted Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid in the northern Gaza Strip.

On Feb. 29, Israeli forces opened fire on hundreds of Palestinians as they gathered south of Gaza City waiting to receive humanitarian aid in what is known as the “flour massacre,” leaving 118 dead and 760 wounded, according to the Health Ministry in the enclave.

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack, which Tel Aviv said killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 32,100 Palestinians have since been killed and over 72,400 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi