UPDATE – At least 38 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in Gaza, including many suffocated by tear gas

UPDATES DEATH TOLL, REVISES HEADLINE, ADDS CHANGES

By Rania Abu Shamala and Betul Yilmaz

ISTANBUL (AA) – At least 38 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, including many who suffocated from tear gas while waiting to receive aid, the Health Ministry said.

A ministry statement said that 21 people lost their lives, including 15 Gazans who suffocated from tear gas fired by the Israeli army near a US-run aid distribution point in Khan Younis city.

“For the first time, deaths have been recorded due to suffocation and the intense stampede of citizens at aid distribution centers,” it added.

Eight other Palestinians, including three children, were killed in Israeli strikes targeting tents for displaced families in al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis.

The Israeli army also shelled a residential apartment and a coffee shop in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, leaving three people dead.

In the northern Gaza Strip, two people were killed, and others were injured when fighter jets struck a home in Gaza City.

Israeli warplanes also shelled another home in Jabalia, killing four civilians and injuring 12 others.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 58,600 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for 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.