At least 18 Palestinians were martyred, on Tuesday, while waiting for food aid at a distribution point near the Netsarim axis in the central Gaza Strip, according to medical sources and eyewitnesses.
Sources of the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip reported that the martyrs were gathered in front of what it described as a distribution center under the supervision of an international institution supported by America and Israel, when they were subjected to direct shooting by the Israeli army.
Witnesses stated that hundreds of civilians gathered from the early morning hours in an attempt to obtain limited food parcels amid a sharp shortage of basic materials.
They said that the shooting led to a large number of martyrs and wounded, and created a state of panic in the place.
Since March 2, the Israeli army has imposed a stressful siege on the Gaza Strip after the failure of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Humanitarian aid has almost completely stopped, while preventing most of the food and medical charges from entering, and disrupting them through crossings under the supervision of the Israeli army, where they are examined for long hours, which complicates relief operations.
This situation caused an additional deterioration of the humanitarian conditions in the sector, where the population, especially in the central and northern regions, suffers from a severe lack of food and medicine.
The United Nations has repeatedly warned of a “imminent humanitarian catastrophe”, noting that most of the Gaza population lived in conditions of severe food security.
In a recent report issued, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization said that “all indicators lead to a real threat to a famine in parts of the Gaza Strip within the next few weeks,” unless it is allowed to enter aid without obstacle.
International organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross and Human Rights Watch, condemned the frequent use of force against civilians while they were gathering to obtain aid.
These developments come in the context of the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas movement since October 7, 2023, which, according to the statements of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, resulted in the death of 54,927 people, most of them women and children, and the injury of 126,615 others.
The indirect talks between the two parties are continuing with Egyptian, Qatari and American mediation, without yet reaching a permanent ceasefire agreement.
