UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, CHANGES DECK
By Ahmed Asmar
The Israeli army killed three more Palestinians and injured 35 others while heading to receive aid from an Israeli-American-established aid distribution site in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, a medical source said.
The source told Anadolu that the victims came under Israeli fire while on their way to receive aid from an American aid distribution point in western Rafah city.
According to Gaza’s government media office, at least 52 Palestinians have been killed and 340 others injured since the Israel-introduced aid mechanism came into force on May 27.
Israel has crafted a plan to establish four aid distribution points in southern and central Gaza, which Israeli media say aims to evacuate Palestinians from northern Gaza into the south.
According to Israel’s Army Radio, Israel’s aid distribution plan seeks to turn the territory’s north into a “completely depopulated area.”
The mechanism was opposed by the international community and the UN, which came as an alternative attempt by Israel to bypass the aid distribution through UN channels.
Since March 2, Israel has kept all border crossings shut, cutting off the entry of food, medicine, fuel, and other essential supplies for Gaza’s 2.4 million residents.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army continued to blow up homes and buildings in eastern Gaza City, and eastern Khan Younis in southern Gaza, witnesses said.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a devastating offensive in Gaza since October 2023, killing over 54,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Aid agencies have warned about the risk of famine among the enclave's more than 2 million.
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 crimes against civilians in the enclave.