26 killed as Israeli tanks open fire in Gaza

At least 26 Palestinians were killed and over 80 hurt after Israeli forces opened fire near an aid site in Rafah, southern Gaza. Thousands had gathered near the Al-Alam roundabout, close to a centre run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), when Israeli tanks came and fired at the crowd. The injured were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, some on donkey carts. It is one of the few hospitals still working. The attack happened soon after the US rejected a Hamas ceasefire offer, calling it “totally unacceptable.” Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also took to X (formerly Twitter) and denied the reports of Israeli firing on Gazans near the aid centre in Rafah. In a video message, he said, “This morning, all world media reported a huge lie. They said that Israeli tanks opened fire at a food distribution centre… this has not happened. It’s simply a lie.” The reports of the attack came shortly after Washington rejected a Hamas ceasefire proposal as “totally unacceptable”. The injured were taken to Nasser Hospital — one of the few functioning hospitals in Khan Younis on donkey carts, according to a BBC report, which confirmed at least 26 people have died in the attack. Shortly after the attack on Sunday, Hamas accused Israeli forces operating in Rafah of committing “a new massacre against hungry civilians who had gathered at the so-called ‘humanitarian aid’ distribution sites”, calling them “mass death traps, not humanitarian relief points”. Israel has faced mounting international criticism over the humanitarian crisis in war-ravaged Gaza, where the United Nations has warned that the entire population faces famine amid months-long Israeli blockade on aid since a brief truce collapsed in March. The GHF, a private organisation backed by Israel and the United States, has been distributing food in the Gaza Strip since May 26, after Israel partially lifted a more than two-month total blockade. However, the United Nations aid agencies