CORRECTS - Algeria calls for urgent UN Security Council meeting after strike on Gazans awaiting aid

CORRECTS BACKGROUND

By Abbas Maymouni

ALGIERS, Algeria (AA) — Algeria on Thursday called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on recent developments in the Gaza Strip.

"Algeria requested an urgent closed meeting regarding the latest developments in Gaza," diplomatic sources from the North African country told Anadolu."The meeting is set to take place Thursday evening at 4.00 p.m. New York time (2100GMT)," the sources added.

Algeria is a non-permanent member of the 15-member Security Council.

The move comes after Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians awaiting humanitarian aid south of Gaza City early on Thursday, killing at least 112 people and injuring 760 others, according to the besieged enclave's Health Ministry.

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.

At least 30,035 Palestinians have since been killed and 70,457 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 is 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 Mohammad Sio