Dozens killed seeking food in Gaza, hospital says, as Witkoff arrives in Israel

More than 50 Palestinians were killed and 400 others were wounded while waiting for food near a crossing in northern Gaza on Wednesday, says a hospital, where US envoy Steve Witakouf arrived in Israel.

Footage showed losses from the accident near the Zikim crossing, which was transferred to the vehicles to the Shiva Hospital in Gaza City.

The Civil Defense Agency in Gaza said that the Israeli forces fired the crowds that gathered around the trucks. The Israeli army said that the forces launched “warning footage”, but they are “not aware of any victims.”

Wittouf is to meet with Israeli officials who are considering punitive measures against Hamas after the ceasefire and the hostage of the hostages that stopped last week.

According to what was reported, he will visit the relief distribution sites run by the controversial and supportive Gaza Humanitarian Foundation from the United States (GHF), amid increasing international anger at the terrible humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories.

The Hamas -running Ministry of Health in Gaza was informed of the death of poor malnutrition on Wednesday, which raised the total from the beginning of the war to 154.

This came a day after universal international food security experts warned that the “worst starvation scenario” was “currently playing” out of 2.1 million people.

United Nations agencies also said that there is a mass starvation of man -made in Gaza and blamed Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies to Gaza. But Israel insisted that there are no restrictions on delivery of aid and that there is “starvation”.

Nevertheless, four days ago, it implemented the measures it said aimed at helping the United Nations and its partners to collect aid from the crossings and distribute them inside Gaza, including daily “tactical stops” in military operations in three areas and create what you call “specific humanitarian corridors”.

The United Nations Humanitarian Office said that the tactical cessations do not allow the continuous flow of the supplies required to meet the enormous needs of the population, and that the deadly hungry crowds continue to empty the supplies of trucks as they pass through the Israeli crossings.

The director of the Shiva Hospital, Mohamed Abu Salma, told the BBC on Thursday morning that he had received the bodies of 54 people who were killed in the accident in the Zikim area, in addition to 412 people who were injured.

On Wednesday night, the Hamas Civil Defense Agency told Agence France -Presse that at least 30 people were killed when the Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd pending assistance there.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent stated that the Saraya Field Hospital and the Menihara Hospital in Gaza City had received a total of six dead and 274 of the same accident.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

He added: “The forces launched warning footage in the area, and they were not directed to the gathering, in response to the threat it posed.”

“According to a preliminary investigation, the Israeli Defense Army does not realize any victims as a result of the Israeli Defense Army fire. Details of the incident are still examined.”

International journalists were banned by Israel from entering Gaza independently, so it is difficult to check what happened.

However, a man met with a BBC local independent journalist that he knew a teenage boy who was killed.

“In the current situation, there is no food or water,” he said.

“What was his mistake? They cut him in the middle of his head. He did not carry a rock, or a weapon, or they did anything wrong. His only mistake was the Palestinian and lived in Gaza.”

Another man said to the BBC that Abu Taha Al -Kafarneh, an unemployed father who was the main breadwinner for his family, was also among the dead.

“He went to get a bag of flour to secure his food for this day … he did not want to circulate, sell it, or benefit from it, like many traders.

He added: “They are [Israel] The claim that they left the food, but instead increases the number of those who were killed and martyred as possible. The morgue is full. “

On Wednesday morning, hospital sources in the south of the BBC Gaza said that six people were killed near the GHF relief center in the Rafah area.

The Israeli Defense Army told the BBC about the “suspects gathering” and said that it poses a threat to its forces, which was said to move away, and then the army launched “warning footage” at a distance of “hundreds of meters” from the site.

The army also said that “the initial review indicates that the number of reported victims is not in line with the information kept by the Israeli Defense Army.”

GHF said that the killings were not made on its location on Wednesday or near it.

According to the United Nations Human Rights Office, more than 1050 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army while trying to obtain food assistance since GHF began working in late May.

He said last week that at least 766 of them were killed near a four -distribution center in GHF, which is run by American private security contractors and located within the Israeli military areas.

He added that 288 people were killed near the United Nations and other aid convoys.

Israel accused Hamas of inciting chaos near the relief sites. She says that her forces only fired warning footage and that they did not intentionally shoot civilians.

GHF said that the United Nations is using “wrong” personalities from the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

The organization said it has handed over more than 98 million meals over the past two months and that she is ready to work with the United Nations to provide assistance.

However, the United Nations has refused to cooperate with the GHF system, saying it is insecure and violates the humanitarian principles of neutrality, neutrality and independence.

The Israeli army launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas -led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, where about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others took hostage.

At least 60,138 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Ministry of Health in the region.