An Israeli strike hit a street in central Gaza on Thursday, where witnesses said a crowd of people was getting bags of flour from a Palestinian police unit that had confiscated the goods from gangs looting aid convoys.
Hospital officials said 18 people were killed.
The strike was the latest violence surrounding the distribution of food to Gaza’s population, which has been thrown into turmoil over the past month. After blocking all food for two-and-a-half months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies into the territory since the middle of last month.
Photo: Bloomberg
Efforts by the UN to distribute the food have been plagued by armed gangs looting trucks and by crowds of desperate people offloading supplies from convoys.
The strike in Deir al-Balah appeared to target members of Sahm, a security unit tasked with stopping looters and cracking down on merchants who sell stolen aid at high prices. The unit is part of Gaza’s Hamas-led Interior Ministry, but includes members of other factions.
A HORRIFIC SCENE
Witnesses said the Sahm unit was distributing bags of flour and other goods confiscated from looters and corrupt merchants, drawing a crowd when the strike hit. Video of the aftermath showed bodies, several torn, of multiple young men in the street with blood splattering on the pavement and walls of buildings.
The dead included a child and at least seven Sahm members, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said, where casualties were taken.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid and using it to prop up its rule in the enclave. Israeli forces have repeatedly struck Gaza’s police, considering them a branch of Hamas.
An association of Gaza’s influential clans and tribes on Wednesday said they have started an independent effort to guard aid convoys to prevent looting.
The National Gathering of Palestinian Clans and Tribes said it helped escort a rare shipment of flour that entered northern Gaza that evening. It was unclear if the association had coordinated with the UN or Israeli authorities.
“We will no longer allow thieves to steal from the convoys for the merchants and force us to buy them for high prices,” said Abu Ahmad al-Gharbawi, a figure involved in the tribal effort.
ACCUSATIONS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz in a joint statement on Wednesday accused Hamas of stealing aid that is entering northern Gaza and called on the Israeli military to plan to prevent it.
The National Gathering slammed the statement, saying the accusation of theft was aimed at justifying the Israeli military’s “aggressive practices.”
Aid was “fully secured” by the tribes, it said, adding that they were committed to delivering the supplies to the population.
Throughout the war, the UN led the massive aid operation by humanitarian groups providing food, shelter, medicine and other goods to Palestinians despite the fighting. However, Israel seeks to replace the UN-led system and has backed an American private contractor, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has started distributing food boxes at four locations, mainly in the far south of Gaza for the past month.
Thousands of Palestinians walk for hours to reach the hubs, moving through Israeli military zones, where witnesses said Israeli troops regularly open fire with heavy barrages to control the crowds.
Health officials said hundreds of people have been killed and wounded, while the Israeli military said it has only fired warning shots.
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