Dozens killed as Palestinians in Gaza scramble for aid from air and land
[August 05, 2025]
By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Dozens of Palestinians were killed or
wounded on Monday as desperate crowds headed toward food distribution
points and airdropped parcels in the Gaza Strip, according to witnesses
and local health officials.
Israel's blockade and military offensive have made it nearly impossible
to safely deliver aid, contributing to the territory's slide toward
famine nearly 22 months into the war with Hamas. Aid groups say Israel's
week-old measures to allow more aid in are far from sufficient. Families
of hostages in Gaza fear starvation affects them too, but blame Hamas.
Several hundred Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since May
while heading toward food distribution sites and aid convoys, according
to witnesses, local health officials and the United Nations human rights
office. The military says it has only fired warning shots and disputes
the toll.
As international alarm has mounted, several countries have airdropped
aid over Gaza. The U.N. and aid groups call such drops costly and
dangerous for residents, and say they deliver far less aid than trucks.
AP video shows scramble for airdropped aid
Many food parcels dropped by air have splashed into the Mediterranean
Sea or landed in so-called red zones from which Israel's military has
ordered people to evacuate. In either case, Palestinians risk their
lives to get flour and other basic goods.
On Monday, Palestinians cheered as pallets of aid were parachuted over
Zuweida in central Gaza. Associated Press footage showed a desperate
scramble when the parcels hit the ground, with hundreds of people racing
toward them. Fistfights broke out and some men wielded batons.
“I wish they would deliver it through the (land) crossings,” Rabah Rabah
said earlier as he waited for the airdrop. “This is inhuman.”
At least one parcel fell on a tent where displaced people had been
sheltering, injuring a man who was taken to a hospital. His condition
was not immediately known.
Dozens killed seeking aid
At least 16 people were killed late Sunday near the Israeli-controlled
Zikim Crossing, the main entry point for aid to northern Gaza, according
to records at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which showed that more than
130 people were wounded.
The circumstances were not immediately clear, but the crossing has seen
several shootings in recent days that witnesses and health officials
blamed on Israeli forces. There was no immediate comment from the
military.
At least 10 people were killed as thousands waited for aid trucks in the
Morag Corridor, which the Israeli military carved out between the
southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah.
Mohammed al-Masri, who was among the crowds, said Israeli forces opened
fire when a group of young men tried to make their way to the front.
"The occupation forces shot many people in the head and in the back,” he
said, adding that he saw four wounded people, one motionless on the
ground.
[to top of second column]
|
Palestinians rush to collect humanitarian aid airdropped by
parachutes into Zawaida in the central Gaza Strip, Monday, Aug. 4,
2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said it received 10 bodies from Morag
and another five who were killed near an aid site in southern Gaza
run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American
contractor.
GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites. It
said a new U.N. route runs near two of its sites in the south and
has drawn large crowds of people who unload the convoys. GHF says
its contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots
on a few occasions to prevent deadly crowding since it opened four
sites in May.
‘It’s a death trap'
Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza said it received the bodies of
eight people killed near a GHF site in the Israeli-controlled
Netzarim Corridor, and that another 50 people were wounded.
Witnesses and health officials said Israeli forces had fired toward
the crowds.
An Associated Press photo showed a man carrying a body away from the
site, as others hauled bags of food.
“It’s like yesterday, and the day before,” said Ayman Ruqab, a young
Palestinian who said he had tried unsuccessfully to reach the site
for the past three days. “It's a death trap."
The Israeli military said it fired warning shots at people who
approached “in a manner that posed a threat to the troops,” without
elaborating. It said it was not aware of any casualties.
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians,
and abducted 251 in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war.
They still hold 50 hostages, around 20 of them believed to be alive,
after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 60,900
Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry,
which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its
count but says around half the dead have been women and children, is
staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and other independent
experts view its figures as the most reliable casualty count.
Israel has disputed the figures but hasn’t provided its own.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
