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ISRAELI FORCES HAVE opened fire on people waiting to enter a food distribution centre run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, killing 31 and wounding “about 200″, according to the local civil defence agency.
“We transported at least 31 martyrs and about 200 wounded as a result of Israeli tank and drone fire on thousands of citizens… on their way to receive food from the American aid centre,” civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
The Israeli army did not immediately respond to an AFP request 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.
Bassal said thousands of Palestinians had been gathering since 2 am in the hope of reaching the food distribution centre.
“Israeli tanks fired several times, then at around 5:30 am, intensified their fire, coinciding with heavy fire from drones targeting civilians,” he said.
There have been a series of deadly shootings by Israeli forces since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) first opened aid distribution points in the Palestinian territory on 27 May.
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The introduction of this new US and Israeli-backed entity into the besieged Palestinian territory has been part of Israel’s plan to circumvent UN agencies and NGOs that already work in Gaza and have done so for decades.
Those UN agencies and officials repeatedly condemned the establishment of the organisation, warning that it would allow Israel to weaponise the provision of food.
NGOs said it would only serve to allow Israel to carry out a plan proposed by US President Donald Trump, and endorsed by Israeli government officials, which is to remove the Palestinian population from the area.
Trump’s proposal to “clean out” Gaza has been widely condemned as a plan for ethnic cleansing.
The man who was initially heading up the organisation, US military veteran Jake Wood, resigned the day before it began operating in Gaza, citing similar concerns to those expressed by the UN.
Israel has said the GHF is a means of preventing food and other supplies from falling into the hands of Hamas.
In mid-May, Tom Fletcher of the UN’s humanitarian affairs office called the Israeli-US plan to take over aid distribution “a cynical sideshow”.
With reporting from AFP
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