Gaza death toll tops 30,000 as Israel fires on aid seekers

GAZA - More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its offensive against Hamas in October, the Hamas-run health ministry said on Thursday as the Israeli army fired at a crowd of people waiting for humanitarian aid in western Gaza, killing at least 104 people.

The ministry said 81 Palestinians were killed and 132 wounded in the past 24 hours, bringing the total casualties to 30,035 dead and 70,475 injured since the conflict erupted on Oct 7, 2023.

Shortly after the ministry announced the grim milestone, medical sources in Gaza told Xinhua that at least 104 people died and more than 760 were hurt on Thursday when Israelis opened fire at a gathering of Palestinians on a coastal road west of Gaza City, where they were expecting aid trucks to arrive.

The wounded, many of them in critical condition, were taken to Al-Shifa Hospital, which is struggling with a shortage of medical supplies and equipment, the sources said.

Witnesses told Xinhua news agency that the Israeli army targeted the civilians on Al-Rashid Street, causing a large number of casualties.

The Palestinian foreign ministry denounced the attack as a "heinous massacre" and part of the Israeli war that aims "to clear the northern Gaza Strip of its population."

The attack "shows that the Israeli government ignores the international calls and demands to protect civilians," the ministry said in a statement, urging an immediate ceasefire as the only way to save lives.

An Israeli military spokesman said the troops fired "in self-defense" after Gazans attacked and looted aid trucks that entered the Gaza Strip early in the morning. He said dozens of Gazans were injured in the chaos, some by being crushed or trampled.

He said some of the Gazans approached the soldiers in "a threatening manner," forcing them to respond with live fire.

Israel launched its assault on Hamas in response to a cross-border raid by the militant group on Oct 7, 2023, in which about 1,400 Israelis were killed and more than 200 taken captive.