Israeli strikes killed at least 72 people across Gaza over the past 24 hours, health workers said, as ceasefire prospects were said to be improving after 21 months of war.
Three children and their parents were killed in an Israeli strike on a tent camp in Muwasi near the southern city of Khan Younis. They were struck while sleeping, relatives said.
“What did these children do to them? What is their fault?” said the children’s grandmother, Suad Abu Teima, as others knelt to kiss their bloodied faces and wept. Some placed red flowers into the body bags.
Also among the dead were 12 people near the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced people, and eight more in apartments, according to staff at Al Shifa Hospital. More than 20 bodies were taken to Nasser Hospital, according to health officials.
A midday strike killed 11 people on a street in eastern Gaza City, and their bodies were taken to Al Ahli Hospital. Another strike on a gathering in eastern Gaza City killed eight including five children, the hospital said. A strike on a gathering at the entrance to the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed two, according to Al Awda Hospital.
The war has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
It says more than half of the dead were women and children. It said the dead include 6,089 killed since the end of the latest ceasefire.
Meanwhile, hungry Palestinians are enduring a catastrophic situation in Gaza. After blocking all food for two and a half months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies into the territory since mid-May.
More than 500 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded while seeking food since the newly-formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began distributing aid in the territory about a month ago, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli troops have opened fire at crowds on roads heading toward the sites.
The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots and that it was investigating incidents in which civilians had been harmed while approaching the sites.
Thousands of Palestinians walk for hours to reach the sites, moving through Israeli military zones.
Separate efforts by the United Nations to distribute limited food have been plagued by armed gangs looting trucks and by crowds of desperate people offloading supplies from convoys.
Yesterday’s death toll included two people killed by Israeli gunfire while waiting to receive aid near the Netzarim corridor, a road that separates northern and southern Gaza, according to Al Shifa and Al Awda hospitals, which each received one body.
There was no immediate Israeli military comment.
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