UPDATES WITH FRESH DEATH TOLL; REVISES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE; EDITS THROUGHOUT
By Zeynep Tufekci Gula
ISTANBUL (AA) - At least nine people were killed and more than 20 others injured when the Israeli army dropped bombs and opened fire on Palestinians waiting for aid trucks in the Gaza Strip at dawn on Tuesday, the Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported.
The injured people have been transferred to the Al-Shifa Hospital.
Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the enclave's civil defense unit, told Anadolu that the Israeli army targeted Palestinians waiting for aid trucks near the Kuwait roundabout south of Gaza City.
Israeli warplanes were also reported to have bombed a house in a neighborhood of Rafah city in southern Gaza Strip, resulting in injuries.
The Palestinian news agency reported that Israel opened fire with artillery on the areas of Abasan Al-Kabira and Khuzaa in Khan Younis, resulting in numerous casualties and injuries.
Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas in which nearly 1,200 people were killed.
More than 31,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 72,700 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.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 27 people have died of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza due to the Israeli blockade.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most 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.
*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara