GAZA STRIP: PALESTINE – A mass casualty incident in Gaza Strip was reported on Sunday (today), when Israeli forces opened fire and dropped explosives using drones on civilians assembled at an aid distribution point in Al-Mawasi, southern Gaza, leaving around 50 Palestinians dead and over 200 injured.
According to eyewitnesses, large crowds had assembled early in the morning at the aid distribution center of the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” an American organization backed by Israel.
As people approached the site, Israeli military vehicles opened fire, and drones dropped explosives resulting in mass casualties, they added.
Medical sources confirmed that the bodies of at least 30 people and dozens of injured were transported to Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis and to the International Committee of the Red Cross field hospital in the city.
In a preliminary report, the Gaza Health Ministry stated that a total of 179 people were brought to local hospitals, including 21 confirmed dead, five in a state of clinical death, and 30 in critical condition, after Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd gathered at an aid distribution point in the Al-Alam area of Rafah.
A medical official described the situation around the distribution center as “extremely dangerous,” noting that ambulances had difficulty reaching the wounded due to ongoing gunfire. Some victims were evacuated using carts.
Simultaneously, Israeli forces also opened fire on civilians approaching another American aid center near the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza.
According to medical sources at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat camp, at least one Palestinian was killed and 20 others were injured when Israeli forces fired on crowds near the entrance to Al-Bureij camp.
The Government Media Office in Gaza said on Sunday that Israel is “using humanitarian aid systematically and maliciously as a weapon of war to blackmail starving civilians and forcibly gather them in exposed killing zones.”
Sunday’s deaths bring the number of Palestinians killed near aid distribution sites to 39 in less than a week, with over 220 injured during the same period, according to an Anadolu tally based on Palestinian sources.
The American aid initiative, launched under the name “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” about a week ago, has faced widespread criticism and rejection from Palestinian communities and international humanitarian organizations.
Many have questioned the motives behind the project, which operates outside the UN aid framework and fails to meet international humanitarian standards.