Palestinian health authorities say Israel kills 25 waiting on aid as war death toll exceeds 56,000

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli forces and drones opened fire toward hundreds of people waiting for aid trucks in central Gaza early Tuesday, killing at least 25 people, Palestinian witnesses and hospitals said, as health authorities said the number of Palestinians killed in the war has risen above 56,000.

New food-distribution sites run by an American contractor, with U.S. and Israeli government support, have been plagued by scenes of violence and chaos since opening last month. Palestinians say that Israeli troops often fire toward desperate crowds trying to collect food. The army says it only fires warning shots to control the crowds.

In Tuesday's incident, Palestinian witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces opened fire as people advanced eastward toward trucks delivering food to a distribution site.

''It was a massacre,'' said Ahmed Halawa. He said tanks and drones fired at people, ''even as we were fleeing. Many people were either martyred or wounded.''

Hossam Abu Shahada, another eyewitness, said drones were flying over the area, watching the crowds first, then there was gunfire from tanks and drones as people were moving eastward. He described a ''chaotic and bloody'' scene as people were attempting to escape.

He said he saw at least three people lying on the ground motionless and many others wounded as he fled the site.

The military said it was reviewing the incident, which took place near the Netzarim corridor, a road that bisects northern and southern Gaza.

The Awda hospital in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp, which received the victims, confirmed 25 deaths and said 146 others were wounded. It said 62 were in critical condition and transferred to other hospitals.

In the central town of Deir al-Balah, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital said it received the bodies of six people who were killed in the same incident.

Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on crowds seeking desperately needed food, killing hundreds of people in recent weeks. The military says it has fired warning shots at people it said approached its forces in a suspicious manner.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Israel's 21-month military operation in Gaza has killed 56,077 people since the start of the war following Hamas' surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The number is by far the highest death toll in any round of Israeli-Palestinian fighting and felt acutely in the territory of about 2 million people.

The dead include 5,759 who have been killed since Israel resumed fighting on March 18, shuttering a two-month ceasefire, it said, and 131,848 have been wounded since the war started.

The ministry doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants but says more than half of the dead were women and children. Israel says over 20,000 Hamas militants have been killed, though it has provided no evidence to support that claim, while Hamas has not commented on its casualties.

Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, which operates in heavily populated areas.

Hamas' attack left around 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians, and 251 others were taken hostage.

Most of the hostages were released by ceasefire agreements.