According to the controversial and heavily criticized GHF, which with the support of Israel has been distributing food in Gaza since May, 20 people were killed in a "tragic incident" in Khan Yunis early on Wednesday.
Most of the victims died as a result of crowding, according to them on X and accuse "armed and Hamas-linked" individuals in the crowd of the deaths. Palestinians in Khan Yunis say at the same time to Haaretz and the news agency AP that the deaths were caused by GHF employees, who are also accused of using tear gas.
They used stun grenades and pepper spray on us. There was aid inside, but they deliberately did not distribute it to make sure people were crowded outside, says witness Abdullah Aleyat to AP.
Testify to shootings
According to a statement from Gaza's health department, at least 21 people have been killed, 15 of them due to crowding and suffocation "as a result of tear gas fired at Palestinians seeking food". The Hamas-controlled department accuses Israel of "intentional and systematic massacres" of starving people.
Over 670 people have been killed in connection with GHF's food distributions in Gaza since the end of May, according to the UN human rights organization OHCHR. In several reports, GHF employees and Israeli soldiers have testified that aid-seeking Palestinians are intentionally shot at distribution sites.
Deaths are reported from several places in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. Since early morning, a total of around 40 Palestinians have been killed, according to medical information to Haaretz. Israel's air force says it has attacked over 120 "terror targets" in the last 24 hours.
Divide Khan Yunis
Israel's military announces in parallel that they have created a new military-controlled zone that runs through the entire Khan Yunis. This means in practice that the city in southern Gaza has been divided into two.
The corridor, named Magen Oz by Israel, is around 15 kilometers long and connected to the Israeli so-called Morag corridor, which separates Khan Yunis from Rafah.
According to the military, the new zone is "a key component in exerting pressure on Hamas" and the extremist movement's Khan Yunis brigade.
