Israeli forces have killed more than 300 Palestinians across the besieged Gaza Strip during the past 48 hours as a possible ceasefire hangs in the balance.

In a statement on Thursday, the Gaza Government Media Office said that the occupying regime had “committed 26 bloody massacres” in the past two days across the war-torn territory, killing 300 Palestinians and wounding hundreds more, Al Jazeera reported.

It added that at least 73 Palestinians had lost their lives since Thursday morning alone, including 33 people at aid distribution sites run by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by Israel and the United States. 

Attacks also hit a shelter tent in al-Mawasi and a school housing displaced people near Gaza City, the media office further said, noting that civilians in overcrowded shelters, public spaces, markets, and food lines have been among the victims of these intensified strikes.

The report also described chaotic scenes where desperate civilians, lining for aid, were met with sudden gunfire without warning, with survivors recounting bullets ripping through crowds, while emergency services were unable to respond due to constant shooting.

GHF has been tasked by the Israeli regime and the US government to distribute aid in Gaza since late May, when the regime partially eased its blockade after mounting international condemnation and warnings of imminent famine.

Its operations, however, have been stymied by chaotic scenes and daily reports of Israeli forces firing on aid seekers waiting to collect rations from GHF installations.

American contractors guarding the GHF aid sites have reportedly been using live ammunition and stun grenades against civilians, with some contractors expressing concern over the lack of oversight and the aggressive tactics used by the unqualified and heavily armed security personnel.

According to the statement, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed and almost 4,000 injured while trying to access or distribute food from GHF installations.

“People described scenes of horror as they wait for hours just hoping to get their hands on basic food supplies, only to be met with sudden and unprovoked gunfire … I’ve been speaking to a number of survivors this morning, and they told me such heartbreaking testimonies and they shared the horrific scenes that unfolded near the GHF-run aid centers,” an Al Jazeera reporter said.

Palestinian resistance groups in a joint statement recently said the real aim behind the US aid distribution centers in Gaza is to dismantle the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and destroy the Palestinian cause.

They also emphasized that the aid centers’ moves are aimed at accelerating the forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, and evacuation of the people and residents of Gaza as part of US President Donald Trump’s “criminal plans.”

The United Nations and other aid groups refuse to cooperate with the GHF system, saying it contravenes the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence.

“The distribution organization is aimed at using food as bait to attract starving people, to terrorize them, and to kill them. The shooting of people in food lines is a war crime,” Dr. Mads Gilbert, an emergency medicine doctor and professor, who’s provided healthcare in Gaza for more than 30 years, said of the GFH operation to Al Jazeera.

The developments come as Trump urged the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement on Tuesday to accept his proposed 60-day ceasefire, saying that Tel Aviv had agreed to finalize such a deal.

“Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60-day CEASEFIRE,” he said on his Truth Social.

Trump’s push for a ceasefire comes as the US government has approved a $510 million weapons sale to the Israeli regime, reinforcing Washington’s military backing as the regime’s genocide in Gaza reaches its 21st month.

Since October 7, 2023, when the Israeli regime began its campaign of genocide in Gaza, it has killed at least 57,012 Palestinians and wounded 134,592, according to the health ministry of Gaza.

Source: Press TV