GAZA/TRIPOLI: Zionist gunfire and airstrikes killed at least 60 Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday, most of them near an aid site operated by the US- and Zionist-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the center of the enclave, local health officials said. Medical officials at Shifa and Al-Quds hospitals said at least 31 people were killed and dozens wounded as they approached a food distribution center near the former Jewish settlement of Netzarim before dawn.
“We transported at least 31 martyrs and about 200 wounded as a result of (Zionist) tank and drone fire on thousands of citizens... on their way to receive food from the American aid center,” civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP. Bassal said thousands of Palestinians had been gathering since 2 am in the hope of reaching the food distribution center.
“(Zionist) tanks fired several times, then at around 5:30 am intensified their fire, coinciding with heavy fire from drones targeting civilians,” he said. Mohammad Abu Salima, head of Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, told AFP it had received the bodies of 24 people killed while waiting to enter the aid center and was treating 96 who had been wounded. Al-Awda Hospital, in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, said in a statement that it had received seven bodies and was treating 112 people who had been wounded in the same incident.
Later on Wednesday, health officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip said at least 14 people had been killed by Zionist gunfire as they approached another GHF site in Rafah. In a statement, GHF said it distributed 2.5 million meals on Wednesday, the largest single-day delivery since it began operations, bringing to more than 16 million the number of meals provided since its operations started in late May.
Gaza’s health ministry says that since then, 163 Palestinians had been killed and over 1,000 wounded trying to obtain the food boxes. The United Nations has condemned the killings and has refused to supply aid via the foundation, which uses private contractors with Zionist military backup in what they say is a breach of humanitarian standards.
Elsewhere in Gaza on Wednesday, its health ministry said at least 11 other people were killed by separate Zionist gunfire and strikes across the coastal enclave. The Zionist military campaign has since killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians and flattened much of the densely populated strip, which is home to more than two million people. Most of the population is displaced and malnutrition is widespread.
Meanwhile, hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists in a Gaza-bound convoy reached the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Wednesday as they drive eastward in a bid to break the Zionist blockade of the Palestinian territory. The Soumoud convoy — meaning steadfastness in Arabic — set off from Tunis in buses and cars on Monday, hoping to pass through divided Libya and Egypt, which organizers say has yet to provide passage permits, to reach Gaza.
It was launched the day the Zionist entity intercepted an aid ship also attempting to breach its blockade on Gaza, which was carrying 12 people, including campaigner Greta Thunberg and European parliament member Franco-Palestinian Rima Hassan. The land convoy was welcomed by hundreds in Tripoli and escorted through the capital by police patrols.
Libya’s Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah hailed the convoy as a “fraternal humanitarian initiative” that Libyans “embraced in warmth and solidarity”. “This is another example of Libya’s commitment and generosity in support of the people of Gaza under siege and attack,” the premier said in a statement.
“This visit brings us joy,” said 45-year-old architect Alaa Abdel Razzaq among the crowd in downtown Tripoli welcoming the convoy. Souhour Al-Qatif said the gathering in the capital showed that “the tears of the Libyan people are united with the convoy”. “It’s a great feeling,” she added. “I feel like I’m not in Libya, but in Gaza, united with my Palestinian brothers.”
Organizers have said a dozen buses and around 100 other vehicles were part of the convoy, adding that they expected the number of participants to grow along the way. Algerian, Mauritanian, Moroccan and Libyan activists were also among the Soumoud group, which is now set to cross eastern Libya, a region controlled by a different administration than Tripoli.
This has cast doubt on whether the activists would reach the border crossing with Egypt, which has yet to grant clearance for the activists to cross. Convoy spokesman Ghassen Henchiri told Tunisian media on Wednesday discussions were ongoing with Egyptian authorities regarding a permit to cross, “but as of now, we haven’t received an official response.”
The Zionist defense minister on Wednesday called on Egypt to block the pro-Palestinian activist convoy from reaching Gaza. “I expect the Egyptian authorities to prevent the arrival of jihadist protesters at the Egypt-(Zionist entity) border and not to allow them to carry out provocations or attempt to enter Gaza — an act that would endanger the safety of (Zionist) soldiers and will not be allowed,” Israel Katz said in a statement.