Father of six killed 'for piece of bread' during Gaza aid distribution

Cries of grief echoed across southern Gaza’s Nasser Hospital on Monday as dozens came to mourn Hossam Wafi, after the father of six was killed while attempting to get supplies to feed his family.

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His mother, Nahla Wafi, sobbed uncontrollably over her son, who was among 31 people killed by Israeli fire while trying to reach a food distribution site the previous day, according to the Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency.

“He went to get food for his daughters — and came back dead,” said Nahla Wafi, who lost two sons and a nephew on Sunday.

Hossam Wafi had travelled with his brother and nephew to a newly established distribution centre in the southern city of Rafah.

“They were just trying to buy (flour). But the drone came down on them,” his mother said, as she tried to comfort four of her grand-daughters in the courtyard of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Israel has faced growing condemnation over the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where the United Nations has warned the entire population faces the risk of famine.

'Go there and get bombed'

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that its field hospital in Rafah received 179 cases on Sunday, including 21 pronounced dead on arrival.