At least 25 Palestinians killed by Israeli gunfire while seeking aid in Gaza: report

At least 25 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire Wednesday while seeking aid in Gaza, according to a news report.

Witnesses and staff at Nasser and Awda hospitals in Gaza, which received the bodies, said that people were shot dead on their way to aid distribution sites and while awaiting convoys entering the strip, The Associated Press reported.

Israel did not immediately respond to the wire service's request for comment.

Of the 25 Palestinians killed, 14 were in the Teina area, about two miles from a food distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to Nasser hospital staff.

One witness told the wire service that Israeli troops fired toward them as people tried to get through. He said that many were shot and fell while fleeing.

Five other Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire while trying to reach another GHF distribution site in the Netzarim corridor area, according to the Awda hospital and witnesses.

However, GHF said there were no incidents at or near its sites Wednesday.

Other groups send aid convoys that travel within a few hundred feet of GHF sites and draw crowds attempting to loot them.

The GHF said that an overwhelming majority of violent incidents over the past few weeks have been related to those convoys.

According to the Nasser hospital, at least six other people were killed by Israeli gunfire while waiting for aid trucks close to the Morag corridor, which separates parts of southern Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview that aired Tuesday regarding Palestinians in Gaza, “Give them the opportunity to leave! First, from combat zones, and also from the Strip if they want.”

“We are not pushing them out but allowing them to leave,” he added.