ISTANBUL 

At least 68 Palestinians were killed and hundreds injured in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to sources and witnesses.

The Israeli army killed 51 people and injured 648 others while they were waiting for aid near the Zikim area in the northwestern Gaza Strip within three hours, the Gaza Media office said in a statement.

“Today, 112 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip, most of which were looted and stolen due to the security chaos systematically and deliberately perpetuated by the (Israeli) occupation as part of a policy of engineering chaos and starvation aimed at undermining aid distribution efforts and depriving civilians of assistance,” it added.

Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said in a recorded speech that “the emergency departments in Gaza hospitals can no longer cope with the overwhelming number of injuries, many of which are extremely critical,” calling for the urgent need to “distribute humanitarian aid safely and to stop the policy of killing civilians.”

Basal added that “the international community and human rights organizations bear responsibility for these crimes.”

Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians seeking aid at a distribution point near the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, killing five and injuring eight others, said a medical source.

Six more people were killed and more than 45 injured by Israeli fire while waiting for aid at another distribution point in northern Rafah in southern Gaza, medics said.

According to the latest figures released by the Health Ministry, at least 1,239 people have been killed and over 8,152 injured by Israeli army fire while seeking aid in Gaza since May 27.

Another Palestinian lost his life in an Israeli airstrike targeting a residential home in Gaza City, said a medical source.

In eastern Gaza City, sources said that two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike targeting a gathering of civilians near al-Zahraa School in the al-Daraj neighborhood.

Three more Palestinians were injured in an Israeli strike targeting an apartment near Dabit junction in western Gaza City, according to paramedics who spoke to Anadolu.

The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 60,000 Palestinians. The relentless bombardment has devastated the enclave and led to food shortages.

On Monday, Israeli rights groups B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights - Israel accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, citing the systematic destruction of Palestinian society and the deliberate dismantling of the territory’s health care system.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.​​​​​​​

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.