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Oxfam 'appalled' at killing of Palestinian civilians awaiting aid in Gaza City

February 29, 2024 at 6:28 pm

Injured Palestinians receive medical treatment in Al-Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces open fire on Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid trucks at Al-Rashid Street in Gaza City, Gaza on February 29, 2024. [Dawoud Abo Alkas – Anadolu Agency]

Oxfam said, Thursday, it is “appalled” by reports of an Israeli attack on Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza City that left more than 100 dead and over 700 others injured, Anadolu Agency reports.

“Israel deliberately targeting civilians after starving them is a gross violation of international humanitarian laws and our humanity,” the Charity group wrote on X.

“The risk of #Genocide is real,” it added.

Early Thursday, Israeli forces shelled a crowd of Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid south of Gaza City at the “Al-Nabulsi Roundabout” area, leaving at least 104 Palestinians dead and 760 injured, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry.

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since a 7 October  Hamas attack, which Tel Aviv said killed less than 1,200 people.

READ: Over 100 killed as Israel forces shell crowd waiting for aid in Gaza

However, since then, it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian Resistance.

At least 30,035 Palestinians have since been killed and 70,457 others injured, amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85 per cent of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 per cent of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

READ: As Gaza death toll passes 30,000, grave-digger longs to build houses again