UPDATE 2 – Nearly 60 killed by Israeli army fire in Gaza, including many starving Palestinians

UPDATES DEATH TOLL, CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK

By Ikram Kouachi

ANKARA (AA) – At least 59 Palestinians were killed, including 53 people waiting for humanitarian aid, and over 60 others injured on Sunday in new Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, medical sources and officials confirmed.

Fifty-one people lost their lives and 60 others injured when Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid in the Al-Sudaniya area, northwest of Gaza City, medical sources told Anadolu.

Two more Palestinians were killed in a separate Israeli strike near the Al-Shakoush aid distribution center, north of Rafah in southern Gaza, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The attacks come amid a surge in Israeli assaults on Palestinians gathering in search of food and aid. According to official sources, the total death toll of those killed while seeking humanitarian aid has reached 891, with over 5,754 others injured since May 27.

Separately, three people were killed when Israeli drones dropped bombs near the Sheikh Radwan water basin in northern Gaza City.

Another three killings occurred in separate strikes in different areas, including northern Gaza, since dawn.

Israeli ground forces also carried out demolition operations in the eastern Gaza City neighborhood of Shejaiya, blowing up multiple homes.

Meanwhile, Israeli artillery shelled several areas in eastern Gaza City, while Israeli naval vessels opened fire toward Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Al-Qarara, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Sunday’s escalation adds to the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. On Saturday alone, Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed over 130 Palestinians throughout the territory, including 38 individuals who were awaiting humanitarian aid and three children who succumbed to severe malnutrition, according to official Palestinian sources.

Israel has killed nearly 59,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. The military campaign has destroyed the enclave, collapsed the health system and led to severe food shortages.

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.