GAZA CITY, Palestine

At least five people were killed and several others injured on Wednesday in Israeli shelling of a humanitarian aid distribution center in the southern Gaza Strip, according to medical sources.

The attack targeted a distribution center run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in central Rafah, witnesses said.

Medical sources said some of the injured were in serious condition.

There was no comment from the Israeli army on the report.

Separately, five people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Tal al-Hawa neighborhood southwest of Gaza City, witnesses said.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas in which nearly 1,200 people were killed.

At least 31,272 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 73,024 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Palestinian enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 27 people have died of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza as a result of the Israeli blockade.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul