Five more reported killed near Gaza aid centres as operations resume

Several distribution points working, says US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

Displaced Palestinians walk along a road to receive aid packages from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah on June 5. AFP

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Five more Gazans were killed on Sunday by Israeli gunfire near centres run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, official Palestinian media reported, as the aid group reopened several distribution points.

In Rafah, four people were killed and 70 others wounded by Israeli army fire near an aid centre west of the southern city, the Wafa news agency said. In central Gaza, one person was killed and others hurt near a distribution centre at the so-called Netzarim Corridor.

Israel's military said it fired warning shots at suspects advancing towards its forces. It said shooting took place in an area of southern Gaza considered an active combat zone at night.

The aid foundation said it reopened several distribution centres in the territory on Sunday, after blaming Hamas for the closure of its operations the previous day.

The controversial US and Israel-backed group began work about two weeks ago after Israel eased an aid blockade on Gaza. Its operations, which bypass traditional humanitarian groups, have been condemned by the UN and established charities, who say they place Gazans in danger.

The group says its work aims to bypass Hamas, which it accuses of stealing aid, but its distribution points have been blighted by violence, with the Israeli army accused of firing on civilians near the centres.

The foundation said on Sunday on Facebook that it had opened a distribution point in the Gaza Valley, before later posting that the site had closed after completing its work. Later in the day, it said another two centres would open at noon in the Tal Sultan area, also known as the Swedish Village, and the Saudi neighbourhood.

Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion on Saturday. Reuters

On Saturday, Gaza's civil defence agency said six people were killed in another shooting near an aid distribution centre in Rafah. The Israeli military said its troops fired warning shots at people it said were “advancing in a way that endangered the troops”. Dozens of others have been killed in recent days around the Rafah site.

The foundation on Saturday accused Hamas of making “direct threats” that “made it impossible” to operate in Gaza without endangering lives.

“Hamas is seeking to return to a broken regime it previously controlled and exploited – by diverting aid routes, manipulating distribution processes, and presenting its own agenda on the basic needs of the people of Gaza,” it said on Facebook.

Gaza's government media office said the foundation's operations have “utterly failed on all levels” and that Hamas was ready to help secure aid deliveries by the UN.

Little is known about the foundation. Other aid groups have said its operations endanger civilians by delivering food through narrow, militarised corridors. Israel has described its methods as a way of circumventing Hamas, which Israel accuses of pilfering aid.

People protest in Tel Aviv demanding the release of hostages held by Hamas. AP

Israel has faced mounting international criticism over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the UN has warned the entire population faces famine. Israel imposed an aid blockade on the besieged enclave on March 2 and has only relaxed it in recent days.

Twenty months into the war, negotiations over a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked. A brief truce collapsed in March and Israel has since intensified operations to “destroy” the Palestinian group.

The Israeli army on Saturday said its military operations in Gaza city resulted in the killing of Asaad Abu Sharia, who was reportedly head of the Mujahideen Brigades. The armed group is close to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad, which Israel has accused of being responsible for the deaths of hostages seized from kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza-Israel border on October 7, 2023.

The Israeli army said Mr Abu Sharia was “directly implicated” in the killings of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, a young family who became a symbol of Israel's hostage crisis.

Hamas on Saturday released a photograph of one of its remaining hostages, Matan Zangauker, appearing to be in poor health, along with a warning that he would not survive. His mother, Einav Zangauker, speaking at a protest in Tel Aviv, said “I can no longer bear this nightmare”.

Meanwhile, an aid boat with 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, is nearing Gaza in an effort to highlight the plight of its residents.

The Madleen, organised by an international coalition, is sailing with the aim of breaching Israel's naval blockade on the enclave and delivering aid, organisers said. They are expected to reach Gaza by Monday.

In 2010 a commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar attempt to breach an Israeli naval blockade, left 10 civilians dead.