Israel bans Gazans from approaching aid distribution centers

ISTANBUL

The Israeli army announced that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are prohibited from approaching humanitarian aid distribution centers Wednesday.

Army spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X that the centers will remain closed for "renovation, reorganization and efficiency improvement work."

Adraee urged residents of Gaza to pay attention to an announcement made by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which launched the high-profile food distribution initiative in the Gaza Strip, that the centers will be closed Wednesday.

He stressed that movement on roads leading to the distribution centers, which are considered "conflict zones," as well as entering the distribution center areas is strictly forbidden.

On Tuesday morning, the Israeli army targeted Palestinians waiting for aid at a designated site in the Al-Alam roundabout in the southern city of Rafah, killing 27 people.

The Gaza Government Media Office said that since May 27, Israeli army attacks on Palestinians in aid distribution zones established by the Israeli-US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation have killed 102 people and injured 490.

Israel has pursued a devastating offensive in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, killing nearly 54,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children, following a Hamas-led cross-border raid that killed around 1,200 people.

Amid the offensive, aid agencies have warned about the risk of famine among the enclave's more than 2 million people.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave.