Israel fire near aid center kills at least 57 in Gaza
GAZA CITY
Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting to enter a U.S.-backed food distribution centre on June 11, killing at least 57 and wounding more than 363, as Israel has moved to paralyze Palestinian economy to respond U.K. sanctions.
"We transported at least 31 martyrs and about 200 wounded as a result of Israeli tank and drone fire on thousands of citizens... on their way to receive food from the American aid centre," civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
Bassal said thousands of Palestinians had been gathering since 2 a.m. (23:00 GMT on June 10) in the hope of reaching the U.S. and Israeli-backed food distribution centre.
"Israeli tanks fired several times, then at around 5:30 am intensified their fire, coinciding with heavy fire from drones targeting civilians," he said.
There have been a series of deadly shootings since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) first opened aid distribution points in the Palestinian territory on May 27, as Israel faced mounting international condemnation over the humanitarian conditions.
Meanwhile, Israel moved to respond after Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway on June 10 ordered sanctions against two hard-liner Israeli ministers for "repeated incitements of violence" against Palestinians, upping their condemnation of Israel's actions in the Gaza war.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir will be banned from entering the U.K. and will have any assets in the country frozen, Britain's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Following the announcement, Israel cancelled a waiver that had allowed Israeli banks to work with Palestinian ones, threatening to paralyse Palestinian financial institutions, Smotrich said in a statement.
"Against the backdrop of the Palestinian Authority's delegitimization campaign against the State of Israel internationally, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has instructed Accountant General CPA Yali Rothenberg to cancel the indemnity provided to correspondent banks dealing with banks operating in Palestinian Authority territories,” Smotrich's office said in a statement.
Smotrich had threatened in May 2024 to cut the vital connection between Israel and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank in retaliation for the recognition of the State of Palestine by three European countries.
The Palestinian financial and banking system is dependent on the regular renewal of the Israeli waiver.
It protects Israeli banks from potential legal action relating to transactions with their Palestinian counterparts, for instance in relation to financing terror.
