Sixteen Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military in Gaza on Friday, according to local health authorities, as a US- and Israeli-backed group said it had handed out aid in the enclave after earlier saying that its distribution sites were closed.
The military had no immediate comment on the reports of deaths in war-shattered Gaza. Health authorities said strikes had killed people in Gaza’s Jabalia, Tuffah and Khan Younis areas.
Witnesses and medics said that Israeli planes and tanks had intensified strikes on Jabalia and nearby Beit Hanoun since the early hours.
The Israeli military issued evacuation orders to residents of certain blocks in northern Gaza on Friday, spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted on X.
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The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) told Reuters by email it had delivered aid on Friday. This was despite and earlier announcement from GHF, on its official Facebook page, saying its distribution sites were closed until further notice and that people should stay away from the sites “for their safety” after a series of deadly shootings.
The GHF opened two sites in southern Gaza on Thursday after closing all of its centres the previous day in the wake of shootings in the vicinity of its operations. It has so far operated four distribution centres.
The organisation bypasses traditional relief agencies and has been criticised by humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations, for alleged lack of neutrality, which it denies.
Palestinians collecting aid from GHF sites have said there is no clear distribution system, describing the process as disorganised and chaotic. Footage released this week by the organisation has shown similar scenes at one of its sites.
GHF halted distributions on Wednesday and said it was pressing Israeli forces to improve civilian safety beyond the perimeter of its operations after dozens of Palestinians were shot dead near the Rafah site over three consecutive days.
The Israeli military said on Sunday and Monday that its soldiers had fired warning shots. On Tuesday, it said, forces also fired warning shots before firing towards Palestinians that it said were advancing towards troops. GHF has said that aid was safely handed out from its sites without any incident.
Mr Adraee wrote on X on Friday that Palestinians would have “free movement” to aid distribution sites between 6am and 6pm. He warned that outside those hours, the area would be a “closed military zone” and movement would pose a significant risk to life.
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Israel has intensified an offensive against Gaza’s dominant Hamas militant group since breaking a two-month-old ceasefire in March. The war was triggered by Hamas’s cross-border attack on October 7th, 2023, when militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage.
Israel responded with an offensive that has caused widespread damage, displaced nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and caused a humanitarian crisis that has left the territory on the brink of famine.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed, more than half of them women and children.
Hamas is still holding 56 hostages. About one-third are believed to be alive, though many fear they are in grave danger the longer the war goes on. – Reuters
