Turkey has joined Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan in condemning Israeli forces shooting desperately hungry Palestinians waiting for the delivery of aid, with the Turkish Foreign Ministry accusing Israel of using “starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.”
At least 115 Palestinians were killed and hundreds more wounded, the Health Ministry in Gaza said. Israeli troops apparently fired heavily into the crowd, as more than 80% of the wounded brought to one hospital had been struck by gunfire, the hospital’s chief said Friday.
Israel said many of the dead were trampled in a chaotic crush for the food aid, and that its troops only fired when they felt endangered by the crowd.
The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip has soared above 30,000 since Israel’s war on Hamas began nearly five months ago after Hamas-led militants stormed across southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 others hostage.
Israel responded with a blistering offensive in the Gaza Strip that has created a humanitarian catastrophe and devastation in northern areas like Gaza City, which are largely cut off from the rest of the territory with little aid entering.
Currently:
— EU says it will send funds to Gaza’s main aid provider after the U.N. agency agrees to an audit.
— Veteran British left-wing disruptor George Galloway wins a special election dominated by war in Gaza.
— Palestinian American woman who faces trial in Israeli military court is released on bail.
— Colombia pauses buying Israeli weapons and president calls war in Gaza a “genocide.”
— Journalism leaders ask for more protection for those covering the war.
— Find more of news agencies’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Here’s the latest:
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Friday that the U.S. will begin air-dropping humanitarian assistance into Gaza, a day after witnesses say Israeli troops killed dozens of Palestinians as crowds raced to pull goods off an aid convoy.
Biden said the air drops will begin in the “coming days,” and made the announcement while hosting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the White House.
At least 115 Palestinians were killed on Thursday and more than 750 others were injured, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
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