GAZA: Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli fire killed 22 people across the Palestinian territory on Thursday, including 16 who were waiting to collect aid. The distribution of food and basic supplies in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip has become increasingly fraught and perilous, exacerbating the territory's deep hunger crisis.
Civil defence official Mohammed al Mughayyir said that the Al Awda Hospital received 10 dead and around 200 wounded, including women and children, "after Israeli drones dropped multiple bombs on gatherings of civilians near an aid distribution point around the Netzarim checkpoint in central Gaza". He said that Gaza City's Al Shifa Hospital received six dead following Israeli attacks on aid queues near Netzarim and in the Al Sudaniya area in northwestern Gaza. The Israeli army said it was looking into the reports when asked for comment.
Restrictions imposed on media in the Gaza Strip and the difficulties of access on the ground mean AFP is not able to independently verify the death tolls announced by the civil defence agency.
Mughayyir said another six people were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza. The US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) accused Palestinian group Hamas of attacking aid workers en route to a distribution centre on Wednesday, saying at least five people were killed. GHF said a bus carrying its staff to a distribution site near the southern city of Khan Yunis was "brutally attacked by Hamas" around 10:00 pm. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed while trying to reach GHF distribution points since they began operating in late May, according to Gaza's civil defence agency.
Israel's refusal to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and its targeting of aid distribution points is causing civilians to starve which constitutes a war crime, Sweden's foreign minister said on Thursday. In early June, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said deadly attacks on civilians around aid distribution sites in the Gaza Strip constituted "a war crime", while several rights groups including Amnesty International have accused Israel of genocide. Israel has vehemently rejected that term.
"To use starvation of civilians as a method of war is a war crime. Life-saving humanitarian help must never be politicised or militarised," Maria Malmer Stenergard said at a press conference. "There are strong indications right now that Israel is not living up to its commitments under international humanitarian law," she said. "It is crucial that food, water and medicine swiftly reach the civilian population, many of whom are women and children living under wholly inhumane conditions," she said.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority said internet and fixed-line communication services were down in Gaza on Thursday following an attack on the territory's last fibre optic cable it blamed on Israel. "All internet and fixed-line communication services in the Gaza Strip have been cut following the targeting of the last remaining main fibre optic line in Gaza," the PA's telecommunications ministry said in a statement, accusing Israel of attempting to cut Gaza off from the world. "The southern and central Gaza Strip have now joined Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip in experiencing complete isolation for the second consecutive day," the ministry said in a statement.
It added that its maintenance and repair teams had been unable to safely access the sites where damage occurred to the fibre optic cable. "The Israeli occupation continues to prevent technical teams from repairing the cables that were cut yesterday", it said, adding that Israeli authorities had prevented repairs to other telecommunication lines in Gaza "for weeks and months". The Palestinian Red Crescent said the communication lines were "directly targeted by occupation fores".
It said the internet outage was hindering its emergency services by impeding communication with first responder teams in the field. "The emergency operations room is also struggling to coordinate with other organisations to respond to humanitarian cases." Maysa Monayer, spokeswoman for the Palestinian communication ministry, said that "mobile calls are still available with very limited capacity" in Gaza for the time being. Now in its 21st month, the war in Gaza has caused massive damage to infrastructure across the Palestinian territory, including water mains, power lines and roads. — AFP
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