Over 2,500 Palestinians killed while seeking food aid in Gaza: Israeli rights group

ISTANBUL

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem on Thursday affirmed that Israeli forces have killed more than 2,500 Palestinians in recent months while they tried to access food aid in northern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands remain trapped amid acute famine.

The group released a video from the Zikim Crossing, the only entry point through which aid could reach northern Gaza until its closure on Sept. 12. According to B’Tselem, civilians walked for hours in desperate search of food, only to be met with Israeli gunfire.

Witnesses described chaotic scenes of crowds rushing toward aid trucks under fire, with many killed and wounded while rescue teams were unable to reach them.

Among the victims was Ahmad Abu Rukbah. His brother Talal told B’Tselem that after hours of waiting near Zikim, they finally managed to obtain a sack of flour. On their way back, heavy gunfire broke out again, striking Ahmad in the chest. Talal said he tried to stop the bleeding with his shirt, but Ahmad died instantly.

B’Tselem said that since May, more than 2,500 Palestinians have been killed and over 18,500 injured while trying to reach aid convoys. The rights group accused Israel of weaponizing famine as part of its ongoing genocide in Gaza.

In July, 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 enclave’s health care system.

The Israeli army has killed more than 65,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave uninhabitable and led to starvation and the spread of diseases.