Israeli troops killed at least 79 Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, local health authorities said, after large and desperate crowds mobbed one of the United Nations convoys carrying a trickle of aid into the mostly besieged enclave.
Israel’s four-month blockade has left Gazans so bereft of basics like fuel that the bodies of victims from Sunday’s mass shooting were often piled onto donkey carts, rather than ambulances, to reach al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 79 people were killed.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that it had identified “a gathering of thousands of Gazans” and fired “warning shots” to “remove an immediate threat” to troops. The military did not respond to further questions about the nature of the threat. It has issued similar statementsafter mass shootings of aid-seekers gathered near distribution sites run by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation over the past two months….
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Israel on Sunday warned residents in parts of central Gaza to evacuate ahead of anticipated military action as ceasefire talks to end the war have stalled.
The evacuation orders apply to residents in the southwestern area of Deir al-Balah, specifically those living on certain blocks, including 130, 132-134, 136-139, and 2351, as well as those in tents, according to Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee.
Adraee said the IDF is expanding the operation into a part of Gaza in which it has not yet operated to target “terrorist infrastructure” in the area.
“The Defense Army continues to operate with great force to destroy the enemy’s capabilities and terrorist infrastructure in the area, as it expands its activities in this region to operate in an area it has not operated in before,” Adraee said in a statement on the social platform X, according to a translation from Arabic.
“For your safety, evacuate the area immediately and move south toward Al-Mawasi,” he continued….