Israeli tank shelling kills 51 people awaiting aid trucks in Gaza, ministry says

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: Reuters

Israeli tank shellfire killed at least 51 Palestinians on Tuesday as they awaited aid trucks in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, the territory's health ministry said, adding that dozens of others were wounded.

Medics said residents said Israeli tanks fired shells at crowds of desperate Palestinians awaiting aid trucks along the main eastern road in Khan Younis. They said at least 51 people were killed and 200 wounded, with at least 20 of them in critical condition.

There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military on the incident.

Witnesses said Israeli tanks fired at least two shells at thousands of people awaiting aid trucks. Nasser Hospital wards were crowded with casualties, and medical staff had to place some on the ground and in corridors due to the lack of space.


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-tank-shelling-kills-45-people-awaiting-aid-trucks-gaza-ministry-says-2025-06-17/

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Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd in the southern city of Khan Younis on Tuesday morning. The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The killings did not appear to be related to a new Israel- and US-supported aid delivery network that was introduced last month and has been marred by controversy and violence.

Yousef Nofal, a witness, said he saw many people motionless and bleeding on the ground after Israeli forces opened fire. “It was a massacre,” he said, adding that the soldiers continued firing on people as they fled the area.

Mohammed Abu Qeshfa said he heard a loud explosion followed by heavy gunfire and tank shelling. “I survived by a miracle,” he said.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/17/dozens-killed-in-gaza-waiting-for-food-trucks-says-health-ministry

Yesterday:

At least 37 Palestinians were killed on Monday in new shootings in Gaza near food distribution centres run by private US contractors guarded by Israeli troops, local authorities said.

Witnesses blamed the shootings on Israeli troops who opened fire early in the morning as crowds of hungry Palestinians converged on two hubs managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private organisation that recently began operating in Gaza with Israeli and US support.
...
Two Palestinians trying to get food at the Rafah site, Heba Jouda and Mohammed Abed, told the Associated Press that Israeli forces fired on the crowds at about 4am at the Flag roundabout. The traffic circle, hundreds of metres from the GHF centre, has repeatedly been the scene of shootings.
...
The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Monday its field hospital in Gaza had received 200 patients, marking the highest number received by the facility in one mass casualty incident.

On Sunday, the same hospital treated 170 people, many of whom “were wounded by gunshots, and who reported that they were trying to access a food distribution site”.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/16/gaza-food-centre-shooting-israel-ghf