18 killed by Israeli fire near Gaza aid distribution site

Gaza's civil defense agency said that Israeli forces on Thursday killed at least 18 people, including 15 who had gathered near an aid distribution site in central Gaza.

Civil defence official Mohammad al-Mugghayyir told AFP that "18 people have been killed due to ongoing Israeli shelling on the Gaza Strip since dawn today, 15 of whom were waiting for aid", adding that the remaining three were killed by shelling near Gaza City.

- 69 dead in past 24 hours -

The Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday that hospitals had received 69 bodies and 221 wounded people in the last 24 hours.

It said 55,706 Palestinians have been killed and another 130,101 wounded since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, without saying how many were civilians or combatants.

The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, when Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. They still hold 53 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead.