Israeli war on Gaza: +20 killed at aid lines amid deportation of Maddalena activists

Shafaq News/ At least 20 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday while waiting for aid near the Netzarim Corridor in Gaza, amid escalating Israeli warnings to international activists aboard the Gaza-bound aid ship Maddalena.

According to Arab media, the total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks since dawn rose to 36. Among the casualties were three members of the same family in an airstrike on tents sheltering displaced families in Khan Younis, and nine bodies recovered after Israeli raids on homes in Jabalia, northern Gaza.

Additional strikes hit residential areas in Deir al-Balah and Baten al-Samin in southern Gaza, while three medics were killed by Israeli fire in Gaza City's al-Tuffah neighborhood.

The Gaza Government Media Office said over 130 civilians have been killed in the past two weeks alone while attempting to access aid parcels at what it described as “checkpoints of humiliation,” with nearly 1,000 others injured. The numbers, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, bring the overall death toll since October 7 to 54,927, with more than 126,615 wounded.

A spokesperson for the Gaza Medical Relief Society told Al Jazeera that aid centers have “turned into death traps.” “People are collapsing in the streets from hunger,” he added, noting that the rations are barely enough to meet 1% of actual needs.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities intensified measures against activists aboard the Maddalena, a vessel part of the Freedom Flotilla aimed at breaking the blockade on Gaza. Israel’s Foreign Ministry affirmed that the activists were transferred to Ben Gurion Airport for deportation. “Those refusing to sign repatriation agreements would be brought before a judge,” it warned.

Israeli media reported that eight passengers refused to comply and would be forcibly deported. Among them is French Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan, who was being held at the Givon Prison in Ramla and is set to be flown to Paris. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, also aboard the ship, was deported and flown back to Sweden, according to the Swedish media.

The Maddalena, the 36th ship organized by the Freedom Flotilla, set sail from Catania, Italy, in early June carrying 12 activists from multiple nationalities and humanitarian supplies, including baby formula, flour, medical kits, water purification equipment, and prosthetics for children.

International reports indicate that 93% of Gaza’s population faces severe food shortages as a result of the Israeli siege and systematic destruction of infrastructure, including farmlands and fisheries. The alliance described its mission as an act of “peaceful civil resistance,” asserting that Palestinians deserve the same dignity and rights as people elsewhere in the world.