20 Palestinians killed after aid truck overturns onto crowd in central Gaza Strip

By Betul Yilmaz

ISTANBUL (AA) - At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured when an aid truck overturned onto the crowds waiting for aid delivery in the central Gaza Strip on early Wednesday.

The state news agency WAFA said the fatal incident took place after the Israeli army forced the truck to take an unsafe route.

The agency did not specify the exact location of the incident.

The Gaza Government Media Office accused the Israeli army of "engineering chaos and starvation" by deliberately refraining from securing the aid trucks and forcing them to seek previously bombed and non-restored roads "packed with starving civilians."

The Israeli-crafted aid scheme has been widely criticized as being a “death trap,” starving civilians.

The Health Ministry said that at least 1,568 aid seekers have been killed and 11,230 others injured by Israeli fire near US-run aid distribution centers in Gaza since May 27.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 188 people, including 94 children, have died from starvation and malnutrition since October 2023.

The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 61,000 Palestinians, almost half of them women and children. Israel’s military campaign has devastated the enclave and brought it to the verge of famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.