Six killed and dozens injured in latest Israeli attack on aid queue in Gaza city

Israeli troops killed six Palestinians and injured at least 83 who were waiting for aid in Gaza city, the Wafa news agency reported.

Soldiers opened fire on civilians as they waited at the Kuwait roundabout, Wafa reported. Dozens of people were taken to Al Shifa Hospital after the attack on Wednesday night, the agency added.

The roundabout has been the scene of several Israeli attacks on Gazans queuing to receive humanitarian aid amid continuing food and water shortages in the enclave.

At least 27 Palestinians, including children, have died of malnutrition and dehydration in recent weeks at Gaza’s hospitals, the enclave’s Health Ministry said.

Officials believe the number of starvation-related deaths is probably much higher outside medical centres, most of which have been forced to close.

In a bid to alleviate the food crisis, countries including the UAE, US and Egypt have joined a Jordanian-led initiative to drop aid into the enclave from planes.

Jordan and the US dropped about 13,900 meals into northern Gaza on Thursday, US Central Command said.

On Thursday, nine people were killed when an Israeli missile struck a house in Deir Al Balah, Palestinian medics said.

That day, eight were killed when an air strike hit an aid distribution centre in Al Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, local health officials said.

A day earlier, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said one of its employees had been killed and 22 people injured when one of its distribution centres in Rafah was hit. “Today’s attack on one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centres in the Gaza Strip comes as food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine,” UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said on Wednesday.

That came on the same day that an air strike on Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza killed at least one person, while two were killed in an attack on a vehicle in Rafah.

Since the outbreak of war, more than 31,300 people have been killed and more than 73,100 injured in Gaza, the enclave’s Health Ministry said.

Israel began its air and ground campaign in Gaza on October 7 after Hamas, the militant group that governs the enclave, killed about 1,200 people and took 240 hostages in attacks on southern Israeli communities.