At least 30 people were killed across the Gaza Strip by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes Wednesday, according to local health officials, as some Palestinians voiced fears that their suffering is being overshadowed by the escalating Israel-Iran conflict.
The deaths included the latest in near-daily killings of Palestinians seeking aid in the three weeks since Israel partially lifted a total blockade on Gaza that it had imposed for almost three months.
Medics said separate airstrikes on homes in the Maghazi refugee camp and Zeitoun neighbourhood in central and northern Gaza killed at least 14 people, while five others were killed in an airstrike on a tent encampment in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Eleven others were killed in Israeli fire at crowds of displaced Palestinians awaiting aid trucks brought in by the United Nations along the Salahuddin road in central Gaza, medics said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was looking into the reported deaths of people waiting for food. Regarding the other strikes, it claimed it was "operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities" and "feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm."
