Gaza Civil Defense reports 11 dead in Israeli attacks

Gaza Civil Defense said Friday that 11 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes and gunfire in the Palestinian territory, including two who were waiting near an aid distribution site.

According to Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmud Bassal, five people were killed in an airstrike near the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, and four others in a separate strike targeting a vehicle in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza. When contacted by AFP, the Israeli army said it could not confirm the strikes without specific location coordinates.

Two other people were killed and more than 70 injured by Israeli gunfire while they were waiting for aid near a food distribution center operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF, supported by Israel and the United States), between the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, Bassal told AFP. The Israeli army did not immediately comment.

Thousands of Gazans gather daily near food distribution points in Gaza. The controversial GHF, a private initiative, has become one of the main distributors of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. International organizations and NGOs that continue to operate in the enclave refuse to cooperate with this organization. Restrictions imposed on the media by Israel, which has besieged Gaza since the start of the war against Hamas, and difficulties accessing several areas, prevent AFP from independently verifying information from the various parties.

The war was triggered by an unprecedented attack by Hamas in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which resulted in the death of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, on the Israeli side, according to an AFP tally based on official data. Of the 251 people abducted that day, 49 remain hostages in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the army.

In response, Israel launched an offensive that has killed at least 60,249 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to data from the Gaza Health Ministry, considered reliable by the U.N. According to COGAT, an agency of the Israeli Defense Ministry in charge of civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, more than 200 aid trucks were collected and distributed in the enclave the previous day. The U.N. estimates that Gaza needs at least 500 aid trucks per day.