AFP reports this morning that Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli forces had killed at least 36 Palestinians, six of them in a shooting near a US-backed aid distribution centre. The Israeli military told AFP that troops had fired “warning shots” at individuals it said were “advancing in a way that endangered the troops.”
AP reported yesterday that 95 Palestinians were killed over the previous 24 hours as the result of Israeli military operations, including six who officials at Nasser Hospital said were trying to get food. Israel claimed it was responding to Hamas’ “barbaric attacks” and dismantling its capabilities. [cjo]
It may be the case that not all of the Palestinian victims were shot by Israeli troops. Avigdor Lieberman, a one time ally of Netanyahu who now sits in the opposition, charged on Thursday that the prime minister has been arming criminal gangs in Gaza who some say are being used to disrupt aid operations. “Israel has provided assault rifles and light weapons to crime families in Gaza, on Netanyahu’s orders,” Lieberman told Israeli public broadcaster Kan on Thursday, reported MEE. “The weapons are being transferred to criminals and offenders and are being directed at Israel.”
