Israeli forces and an Israeli-backed gang fired on Palestinians near an aid distribution point in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Monday, killing 14 people, The Associated Press has reported.
The report cited witnesses to the massacre who said gunfire came from a gang led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a criminal who has been involved in looting aid trucks. It was just recently revealed that Israel has been arming the gang, which has members who have ties to ISIS.
“There was an ambush … the Israelis from one side and Abu Shabab from another,” Hussein Shamimi, who was in the crowd, told AP. Shamimi said his 14-year-old cousin was killed in the shooting.
Heba Joda, another eyewitness, told AP that the massacre occured at a roundabout about a half mile from the aid site. She said members of Abu Shabab’s gang were trying to organize the crowds into lines on the road. When people pushed forward, the gunmen opened fire, and then people from the crowd hurled stones, forcing the gang members to withdraw toward the Israeli positions.
Abu Shabab’s gang, which has been calling itself the Popular Forces, has been operating in Israeli-controlled areas. Since Israeli officials admitted to arming the group, Abu Shabab has denied he received weapons from Israel and claims he’s not a collaborator despite operating under IDF protection.
The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said it received 14 bodies after the shooting, and Gaza’s Health Ministry said another 99 people were injured.
Earlier in the day, the Health Ministry said that Israeli forces killed at least 46 Palestinians and injured 388 over the previous 24-hour period as Israeli airstrikes continued to pound targets across the Strip. The ministry also said that since the GHF began operating in Gaza, Israeli forces have killed 127 aid seekers and wounded 1,287.
