GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, June 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Gaza's civil 
defence agency said 31 Palestinian aid seekers were among at least 60 people 
killed Friday by Israeli forces, the latest in a string of deadly incidents 
near aid distribution sites.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that five people were killed 
while waiting for aid in the southern Gaza Strip and 26 others near a central 
area known as the Netzarim corridor, an Israeli-controlled strip of land that 
bisects the Palestinian territory.

Thousands of Palestinians have gathered there daily in the hope of receiving 
food rations, as famine looms across Gaza after more than 20 months of war.

The Israeli army told AFP that its troops in the Netzarim area had first 
fired "warning shots" at "suspects" approaching them.

When the individuals continued advancing, "an aircraft struck and eliminated 
the suspects in order to remove the threat," the army said.

Similar incidents have occurred in that area regularly since late May, when 
the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation opened its 
distribution centres, as Israel eased a two-month aid blocakde.

The privately run foundation's operations in Gaza have been marred by chaotic 
scenes. UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with it 
over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

Elsewhere in the territory on Friday, Bassal said 14 people were killed in 
two separate strikes in and around the central city of Deir el-Balah, and 13 
others in three Israeli air strikes in the Gaza City area.

One of those strikes, which killed three people, hit a phone charging station 
in the city, Bassal said.

In southern Gaza, two people were killed "by Israeli gunfire" in two separate 
incidents, he added.

Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing 
some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details 
provided by the civil defence agency.

The armed wing of Palestinian miliant group, Al-Quds Brigades, said on Friday 
it had targeted an Israeli military post in the southern city of Khan Yunis, 
claiming "dead and wounded" Israeli troops as a result.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military did not comment.

Much of Khan Yunis, like vast areas across Gaza, is under Israeli military 
evacuation orders.