Israeli bombardments across the Gaza Strip claimed the lives of at least 92 Palestinians on Thursday, including several people awaiting humanitarian aid, amid a deepening hunger crisis and growing international distraction over the Israel-Iran standoff.
Of the casualties reported since dawn, 64 were killed in Gaza City and its northern districts, while 16 perished while seeking assistance near the Netzarim Corridor, which divides northern and southern Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, a body regarded as credible by the United Nations.
Eyewitnesses recounted scenes of chaos and bloodshed. “Around 1 am, 22:00 GMT Wednesday, they started shooting at us. The gunfire intensified from tanks, aircraft and quadcopter bombs,” one witness told reporters. “We couldn’t help them or even escape ourselves,” he said, describing the panic near the Shuhada Junction where the crowd was too large to flee the incoming fire.
In a separate incident, an Israeli drone strike targeted a makeshift tent in Al Shati Refugee Camp, where civilians were charging their electrical devices. The attack killed 13 people, local sources said. Israeli aircraft also bombarded residential neighbourhoods in Jabalia, northern Gaza, causing significant destruction.
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The Gaza Health Ministry reported that 69 bodies, including two recovered later, and 221 injured, were brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours.
The violence unfolds as humanitarian efforts remain mired in controversy. Over the past fortnight, hundreds of Palestinians have died while trying to access aid distributed under the US-Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Israel maintains that large crowds pose a security risk, while aid recipients and observers argue that civilians are paying the price.
Though the United Nations had previously acknowledged the aid initiative as compliant with humanitarian principles, it has also warned that such mechanisms are failing to reach starving civilians effectively. “The aid programme would still not help dying Palestinians, which is exactly what is happening in Gaza in the present day,” said one official familiar with the response.
Since the conflict erupted in October 2023, at least 55,706 Palestinians have been killed and 130,101 injured, according to data from Gaza’s Health Ministry.
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