At least 43 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera, as a US-backed group said it would reopen two aid distribution centres in the war-torn Strip.
At least seven people including four journalists were killed in an Israeli drone attack on Al Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City on Thursday, medical sources said. Palestinian health authorities confirmed the deaths of four journalists.
In Gaza, even humanitarian aid “has been politicised”
Gaza’s Government Media Office said the deaths raised the total number of journalists killed in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 2023 to 224.
The attack comes as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – a shadowy organisation backed by the United States and Israel – said it would open two two aid distribution centres in the war-torn territory on Thursday after a full-day closure on Wednesday.
It said in a post on Facebook it would reopen two centres in the Rafah area of southern Gaza. It did not say when aid distribution would resume.
The GHF earlier said its sites in Gaza would not open at their usual time due to maintenance and repair work and strongly urged aid seekers travelling to its locations to “follow the routes” set by the Israeli military to “ensure safe passage”.
The Israeli military warned Palestinians on Wednesday not to approach GHF aid distribution sites while “reorganisation work” was under way, saying that access roads to those locations would be “considered combat zones”.
The suspension of GHF’s distribution of food supplies in Gaza comes after Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians seeking aid for a fourth time near a GHF distribution site in Rafah, southern Gaza, early on Tuesday.
The Israeli attack killed at least 27 people and injured about 90 more, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
On Sunday, Israeli forces opened fire on thousands of aid seekers near the same site in Rafah, killing at least 31 people and wounding more than 150, according to Gaza’s Civil Defence agency. One person was also shot dead at another aid distribution site, south of the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, on the same day.
Get real-time breaking news alerts and stay up-to-date with the most important headlines from around the globe.
Then, on Monday, three more people were killed and about 30 injured when Israeli forces again opened fire near the GHF’s Rafah distribution site.
‘Unprecedented’ mass casualty incidents
The Israeli military had denied reports its troops shot at civilians near or within the GHF aid distribution site on Sunday, saying its forces only fired warning shots at people who were not using “designated access routes”.
Israeli army spokesperson Effie Defrin then claimed that soldiers only fired towards people who “were approaching in a way that endangered” the troops.
The GHF, which began chaotic aid distribution operations on May 26, has also labelled reports of aid seekers being killed in large numbers “outright fabrications”, claiming it has yet to see evidence of an attack at or near its facilities.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has confirmed that it received a “mass casualty influx of 179 cases” after Sunday’s attack, including 21 patients who were “declared dead upon arrival”. Women and children were among the casualties, the group said, with the majority suffering “gunshot or shrapnel wounds”.
The ICRC has also warned that Palestinians in Gaza are facing an “unprecedented scale and frequency of recent mass casualty incidents”.
Reports of aid seekers being killed by Israeli forces over recent days have led to international outrage, with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanding an independent inquiry into the deaths and for “perpetrators to be held accountable”.
The United Kingdom on Wednesday called for an “immediate and independent investigation” into the deadly incidents. UK Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer said the deaths were “deeply disturbing”, and called Israel’s new aid delivery measures “inhumane”.
Israel continues to push ahead with its wider assault on Gaza, with at least 48 people killed in attacks across the Strip on Wednesday, according to Gaza’s Civil Defence. Among the casualties were at least 18 people killed in a strike on a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in southern Khan Younis.
The Israeli military on Thursday confirmed it had recovered the bodies of two Israeli captives who had been taken to Gaza during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
The military said in a statement the remains were retrieved from Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
At least 1,139 people were killed and around 250 otheres were seized and taken to Gaza during the 2023 attack. Israel estimates that there are still 56 captives held by in Gaza, including at least 20 who are alive.
Israel responded to the attack with its continuing war on Gaza, killing at least 54,418 Palestinians and wounding 124,190, according to statistics from the enclave’s Health Ministry.
On Wednesday, the United States once again vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution demanding unhindered humanitarian aid access across Gaza and an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire”.
