At least 25 people killed after Israeli forces open fire near aid trucks in Gaza, witnesses say

At least 25 people have been killed after Israeli forces opened fire towards people waiting for aid trucks in Gaza, according to witnesses and hospitals.

The Awda hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp, which received the victims, said the Palestinians were waiting for the trucks on a road south of Wadi Gaza. Witnesses told the Associated Press (AP) news agency Israeli forces opened fire as people were advancing to be close to the approaching trucks.

Israel-Iran live updates: Trump tells two sides 'do not violate' ceasefire The Awda hospital said another 146 Palestinians were wounded. Among them were 62 in a critical condition, who were transferred to other hospitals in central Gaza, it added.

In the central town of Deir al-Balah, the Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital said it received the bodies of six people who were killed in the same incident. "It was a massacre," one witness, Ahmed Halawa, said.

He said tanks and drones fired at people, "even as we were fleeing - many people were either martyred or wounded". Another witness, Hossam Abu Shahada, said drones were flying over the area, watching the crowds.

Then there was gunfire from tanks and drones, leaving a "chaotic and bloody" scene as people attempted to escape. He said he saw at least three people lying on the ground motionless and many others wounded as he fled.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the reports. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, described the aid delivery mechanism in Gaza as "an abomination that humiliates and degrades desperate people".

He added: "It is a death trap, costing more lives than it saves." A spokesperson for the UN's Human Rights Office said: "The weaponisation of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime and, under certain circumstances, may constitute elements of other crimes under international law." Around 56,000 Palestinians have been killed during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. The ministry says more than half of the dead were women and children, but does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its count.

The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, when militants stormed across the border and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostages. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefire agreements..