Desperate Gazans waiting for aid killed in Israeli strike on Deir al-Balah

Dozens of Palestinians who waited to receive food aid in Gaza were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Sunday, in another deadly incident targeting civilians reeling from a famine in the war-battered enclave.

Gaza’s health ministry said the Israeli army bombed people as they waited for humanitarian aid to arrive near the Kuwait roundabout in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, leaving dozens killed and wounded.

The exact number of casualties was not clear.

"The occupation forces committed a horrific massacre at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza which claimed the lives of dozens and [left] wounded," health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.

Those injured were rushed to hospitals, already barely functioning under Israel’s siege since October 7 and reeling under a severe shortage of medicine and supplies.

Footage of the aftermath of the airstrike was shared on social media, many of which showing dead bodies and bloodied streets.

Al-Qudra added Israel was carrying out systematic genocidal crimes against hundreds of thousands of hungry people in northern Gaza, following last week’s massacre of over 100 Palestinians who were waiting to receive aid at another major road junction in Gaza City.

While Israeli forces claimed most people died in a stampede, rights groups said most of those wounded had bullet wounds. The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor and other organisations said it was evident that most of the casualties were a result of Israeli army fire.

A small truck carrying humanitarian aid in Deir al-Balah was also struck earlier on Sunday by Israeli jets, killing at least eight civilians and wounding others.

Hampering aid entry

The dire humanitarian situation in Gaza has led to the deaths of over a dozen children from malnutrition and dehydration in recent days, according to Gaza's health ministry. People have resorted to eating leaves, food scraps, and even donkey feed.

Palestinians, world leaders and rights groups have slammed Israel for failing to comply with a January ruling by the International Court of Justice to provide urgently needed aid to desperate people in Gaza.

In-depth: Gaza's entire population is at risk of famine as rights groups say Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war

How Israel's war is creating a man-made famine in Gaza ⬇️

✍️ @hannadavis341 https://t.co/XSfxQGQrd9

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) January 8, 2024

In a case brought forward by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide, the UN's top court ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, something it has also failed to comply with.

The unprecedented Israeli air and ground campaign in Gaza has killed over 30,500 people since October 7, mostly women and children.

Israel deliberately running over Palestinians with tanks

In a separate report on Sunday, the Euro-Med Monitor strongly denounced the Israeli army’s deliberate killing of Palestinians by running them over with tanks and other vehicles.

"These crimes are part of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip", the rights group said.

The report documents a number of incidents where civilians were run over by Israeli vehicles.

Late last month, a Palestinian man was deliberately rammed into in Gaza City Al-Zaytoun neighbourhood after he was detained.

In another incident in January, an Israeli tank ran over members of the same family who were asleep in a shelter caravan in the city of Khan Younis, killing a man and his daughter.

Other such crimes were documented from last year too.

Euro-Med Monitor "affirmed that all of these violations are part of a larger Israeli effort to dehumanise every Palestinian in the Gaza Strip, in order to justify and normalise the crimes being committed against them."