Israeli airstrikes kill dozens of Palestinians in Gaza Strip

Starving people also being shot while waiting for aid as locals fear Iran-Israel war has shifted focus from their catastrophe

- NIDAL AL MUGHRABI

Israeli gunfire and airstrikes have killed dozens of people across Gaza in the space of 24 hours, local health officials said. It comes as many Palestinians fear their plight is being forgotten as attention shifts to the escalating war between Israel and Iran.

At least 40 died as a result of Israeli gunfire and airstrikes yesterday, Gaza's health ministry said. 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 the territory.

Medics said separate airstrikes on homes in the Maghazi refugee camp, the Zeitoun neighbourhood and Gaza City killed at least 21 people, while five others were killed in an airstrike on an encampment in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Fourteen more people were killed in Israeli fire at crowds of Palestinians awaiting aid trucks brought in by the United Nations along the Salahuddin road in central Gaza, medics said.

Israel's military said individuals approached troops in the area in a manner that posed a threat to its forces, despite warnings that the area is an active combat zone.