Israeli Fire Kills 95 Palestinians in 24 Hours, 32 of Them Waiting for Aid in Southern Gaza Strip, Medical Sources Say - Israel News - Haaretz.com
At least 95 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza in the last 24 hours, 32 of them after Israeli forces opened fire toward civilians gathered to receive humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to medical teams at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.
More than 100 other people were wounded as a result of the Israeli fire, most of them seriously. According to the teams, most were killed on Al-Tina Street in Khan Yunis.
Eyewitnesses and local sources said Israeli troops surrounded the area, where thousands of Palestinians had assembled in an attempt to reach a food distribution center, and began firing live ammunition toward the crowd.
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Dr. Atef al-Hout, director of Nasser Hospital, described the situation as "an unprecedented number of casualties in a very short time," warning that the actual death toll could be even higher.
"We're unable to provide adequate medical treatment as we lack equipment, medicine and personnel," he said.
The Israeli army issued a statement regarding the incident later on Saturday, saying that it fired at "suspects who approached" its troops in the southern Gaza Strip overnight into Saturday.
The military said its soldiers "called for them to distance themselves, and after they did not comply, the troops fired warning shots."
The Israeli forces said the incident is "under review" and that they are "aware of reports regarding casualties, adding that the troops opened fire in the vicinity of an aid distribution site – "approximately one kilometer away" – the army said, emphasizing that the incident took place "at nighttime, when [the site] is not active."
The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation also responded to the deaths on Saturday afternoon, denying reports that Israeli gunfire killed at least 32 Palestinians near its facility.
"There were no incidents at or near any of our aid distribution sites today," the foundation said.
There were no incidents at or near any of our aid distribution sites today. The reported IDF activity resulting in fatalities occurred hours before our sites opened and our understanding is most of the casualties occurred several kilometers away from the nearest GHF site. We…
— Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (@GHFUpdates) July 19, 2025
"The reported IDF activity resulting in fatalities occurred hours before our sites opened and our understanding is most of the casualties occurred several kilometers away from the nearest GHF site."
The organization said it has "repeatedly warned aid-seekers not to travel to our sites overnight and early morning hours," adding that, "The reality is this: we are the only organization feeding Gazans right now."
The foundation called on the UN to "get off the sidelines and either find a way to deliver aid or let us help them do it."
Mahmoud Mokeimar, an eyewitness, said he was walking with a large crowd of people, mostly young men, toward the food hub. Troops fired warning shots as the crowds advanced, before opening fire toward the marching people.
"It was a massacre … the occupation opened fire at us indiscriminately," he said. He said he managed to flee but saw at least three motionless bodies lying on the ground, and many other wounded fleeing.
A Palestinian man who was injured during a food distribution at a center run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organization approved by Israel, is carried into Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday.Credit: Mariam Dagga/AP
Akram Aker, another witness, said troops fired machine guns mounted on tanks and drones. He said the shooting happened between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m.
"They encircled us and started firing directly at us," he said, adding that he saw many casualties lying on the ground.
Sanaa al-Jaberi, a 55-year-old woman, said she saw many dead and wounded as she fled the area. "We shouted: 'food, food,' but they didn't talk to us. They just opened fire," she said.
Monzer Fesifes, a Palestinian-Jordanian, said his 19-year-old son Hisham was among those killed in the Tina area.
"He went to bring food from the failed U.S., Zionist aid to feed us," the father of six said, pleading for the Jordanian government to help evacuate them from the Gaza Strip.
Nasser Hospital said it received 25 bodies, along with dozens of wounded.
Seven other people, including one woman, were killed in the Shakoush area, hundreds of meters north of another GHF hub in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, the hospital said. The Gaza Health Ministry also cited the toll.
Palestinians who were injured during a food distribution at a center run by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation receive treatment on the floor of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday.Credit: Mariam Dagga/AP
Dr. Mohamed Saker, the head of Nasser's nursing department, said it received 70 wounded people. He told The Associated Press that most of the casualties were shot in their heads and chests, and that some were placed in the already overwhelmed intensive care unit.
"The situation is difficult and tragic," he said, adding that the facility lacks badly needed medical supplies to treat the daily flow of casualties.
On Tuesday, the United Nations said it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks at aid points in Gaza run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and convoys run by other groups.
Three weeks ago, Haaretz published testimonies from soldiers and officers who said Israel Defense Forces troops were ordered to fire at unarmed crowds near food distribution centers in Gaza.
The foundation issued a statement shortly after the report was published, urging Israel to investigate the killings that have occurred in and near its aid sites, adding that areas outside the facilities themselves fall under IDF jurisdiction.
"To date, there have been no incidents or fatalities at or in the immediate vicinity of any of our distribution sites," Interim Director John Acree said in June after the Haaretz report.
The GHF also said the allegations in the testimonies published by Haaretz were "too grave to ignore" in its statement, adding that casualty reports from the "Hamas-affiliated Gaza Health Ministry" are unreliable, as the ministry is "not a credible source of information."
The U.S.-backed foundation began operating in the southern Gaza Strip in late May, later establishing an additional aid distribution facility in the central Gaza Strip, in the vicinity of the IDF-controlled Netzarim corridor.
Liza Rozovsky, Nir Hasson, Yaniv Kubovich and Reuters have contributed to this story.