Twenty-six Palestinians were killed and 150 injured in Israeli tanks bombing and a gunfire near a Rafah aid distribution center in the south of Gaza, according to doctors and local residents.
Mohammed Ghareeb, a local journalist in Rafah, told the BBC that thousands of Palestinians gathered near a humanitarian aid distribution center supported by the United States when Israeli tanks approached and opened fire on the crowd.
Local journalists and activists shared heartbreaking images of bodies and wounded transported in donkeys at the Red Cross hospital in the Al-Mawasi region in Rafah, because the rescue teams could not have reached the premises.
The BBC contacted the IDF for an answer.
Mr. Ghareeb said that the crowd of the Palestinians had gathered near the Al-Alam roundabout around 04:30 am, local time (02:30 am BST), near the aid center led by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, shortly before the appearance of Israeli tanks and opened fire.
“The dead and the wounded are lying on the ground for a long time,” said Ghareeb.
“The rescue teams could not access the region, which is under Israeli control. This forced residents to use donkey carts to transport the victims to the country hospital.”
The Red Cross hospital said 26 people had been killed and 150 injured.
Efforts were underway to transfer the victims to the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis for subsequent treatment, added the doctor.
Civil Defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told the AFP news agency that more than 100 people were injured “due to the shots of Israeli vehicles to thousands of citizens”.
The BBC contacted the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on reports.
The incident highlights the disastrous humanitarian conditions in Rafah, where recent Israeli military operations have seriously limited access to assistance and emergency services.
Civil crowds precipitated the Gaza aid trucks on Saturday, the World Food Program said, such as hunger and despair create chaotic scenes.
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is a new organization supported by the United States and Israel which distributed food on designated sites in Gaza. Israel has set up the plan after accused Hamas of stolen aid, which the group denies.
The GHF said that it had distributed two million meals this week, that the BBC could not verify independently.
It comes when the United States tries to Broker a cease-fire contract between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas responded to the United States cease-fire proposal saying it was ready to release 10 living Israeli hostages and 18 hostages dead in exchange for a certain number of Palestinian prisoners.
However, the group also repeated its permanent truce requests, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and guarantees for the continuous flow of humanitarian aid. None of these elements are in the agreement on the table.
Hamas said he had submitted his response to the American project proposed by Steve Witkoff, the special envoy of American president Donald Trump for the Middle East.
Witkoff said that the proposal was “unacceptable and only brings us back” and insisted that the American agreement was “the only way we can conclude a 60-day ceasefire agreement in the coming days”.
