People pray by the bodies of Palestinians who were killed a day earlier in Israeli fire as they attempted to get food aid, at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. AFP
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."
He added that the remaining three were killed by shelling near Gaza City.
Gaza has been suffering from a catastrophic humanitarian disaster since Israel closed all crossings on 2 March, blocking the entry of all food, medicine, relief aid, and fuel to the strip.
On 18 March, Israel unilaterally ended the Gaza ceasefire agreement, resuming its aggression on the strip.
Since then, it has carried out a wave of bloody airstrikes across Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians.
The daily Israeli killing toll has reached at least 5,194 with 17,279 others wounded, according to medical sources.
Since October 2023, Israel has waged a military onslaught on the strip, killing 55,493 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 129,320 others.
The total number of fatalities and casualties among food seekers has reached 397 and over 3,031, respectively.
At least 10,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the strip.
Israel's genocidal war has also resulted in the forced displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of displaced people forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt. This constitutes Palestine’s most significant mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
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