The Palestinian news agency WAFA cited medical sources and dozens of Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
The agency said 41 people have been killed throughout the territory since the morning, including one, including a 12-year-old child, from a drone strike in the northern and southern Gaza Strip.
When asked, Israel’s military initially did not comment on the report.
Israeli troops repeatedly said it targeted members of Palestinian Islamic Hamas militia and other terrorist groups in Gaza. It has consistently stressed that it seeks to avoid harming uninvolved civilians during strikes against group goals.
Report: IDF does not allow Thunberg’s ship to dock in Gaza
Meanwhile, according to Israeli media reports, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and others on board will not be allowed to dock in the Gaza Strip.
Broadcaster Kan 11 reported that Israel’s security authorities have decided that the organization will not allow access to Palestinian territory, too. The decision was reportedly intended to set a precedent for others.
Defence Minister Israel Katz and senior military officials should discuss further steps on Thursday, according to the broadcaster. The report shows that the ship can be towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where militants on board can be detained. So far, the Israeli government has declined to comment on the report.
Israel has previously denied that militants were docking ships in the Gaza Strip. Freedom Flotilla Alliance sailing ships, known as Madleen, took off from Sicily on Sunday. According to the alliance, there were 12 militants on board.
The group claims they are providing assistance supplies, such as baby food and medical supplies, to those in need in the Gaza Strip. But they also aim to draw international attention to the humanitarian situation in the region.
Thunberg repeatedly expressed solidarity with the Palestinians and was accused of Israeli genocide.
However, critics accuse Dunberg of taking a unilateral pro-Palestinian stance on the Gaza war and the events it triggered.
Felix Klein, the German government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, described Dunberg’s statement on the Middle East conflict as “hostility to Israel and through the veil denial of Israel’s right to survive is also an anti-Semitic right.”
No aid allocation on Wednesday
The Israeli military announced that all aid centers in the coastal zone remained closed after reports that Israeli troops killed people near a food distribution site in Gaza.
Avicay Adraee, an Arab spokesman for the IDF, said on X that the facility will continue to close “renovation, organization and efficiency improvement projects,” citing the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which operates assistance operations.
The military warned civilians to avoid accessing the center and declared the surrounding roads as war zones. The spokesperson added: “Entering the distribution center area is strictly prohibited.”
The centres are expected to reopen on Thursday.
After the closure, Hamas-operated health ministry said Israeli forces opened fire on civilians near the allotment site on Tuesday, killing at least 27 people and injuring about 90 people.
The IDF said its soldiers were stationed about 500 meters from the site and found close to those deemed to be threatened. The troops initially fired warning guns and then fired at individual suspects who did not retreat. Claims cannot be verified independently.
GHF launched its issuance network after Israel allowed limited humanitarian visits under international pressure, after nearly three months of lockdown.
The current conflict began in October 2023, when Hamas and others invaded Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, triggering a massive Israeli reaction that led to the deaths of more than 53,000 Palestinians. The ministry did not distinguish between civilians and military casualties.
Displaced Palestinians gather in a charitable kitchen, amidst unshort food, to receive assistance in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Since Israel’s closed border crossing on 2 March 2025, the United Nations has warned that “the entire population of Gaza is at risk of famine”, preventing the entry of basic supplies. Belal Abu Amer/APA Images via Zuma Press Wire/DPA
