Murdered, queuing for food: Israeli army commits another massacre against Gaza's hungry families

In one of the most harrowing scenes of Israel's war on Gaza, Israeli warplanes killed 17 Palestinian civilians Thursday morning, including ten children and several women. The attack by the Israeli military targeted a crowd waiting for aid in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, according to medical sources and local eyewitnesses.

Eyewitnesses said to The New Arab that the Israeli forces struck the Tayyara Roundabout on Abu Hassani Street as families gathered outside a makeshift medical point to receive "nutritional supplements for children."

"Most had not eaten for days. When the missile hit, it turned the aid line into a bloody scene of devastation," Adel al-Naji, a Deir al-Balah-based eyewitness, spoke to TNA.

Eyewitnesses filmed the disturbing aftermath of Israel's attack, showing shredded bodies, dismembered children, and mothers cradling lifeless infants.

One video that quickly went viral showed a child weeping inside the morgue at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. He cried beside his mother's corpse, sobbing, "Forgive me, Mama… I have no one but you," before erupting into uncontrollable screams; a cry that resonated across screens worldwide.

With ambulances grounded due to fuel shortages, residents used donkey carts to transport the dead and wounded.

Israel's months-long blockade has crippled Gaza's health sector, leaving hospitals unable to respond to mass casualties.

Gaza's Ministry of Health said in a press statement that at least 17 Palestinians were killed and more than 25 others wounded by the Israeli attack, many of them children in critical condition.

The ministry accused Israel of deliberately targeting starving civilians and called the massacre part of a strategy that "uses hunger as a weapon against a besieged population."

Israel has continued to intensify its offensive across the war-torn coastal enclave, drawing condemnation from Palestinian officials and international bodies, who now describe the assault as an unfolding genocide.

Despite repeated warnings and court orders from the International Court of Justice, Israeli warplanes continue to level neighbourhoods and kill civilians with impunity, backed by sustained military and diplomatic support from the United States.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel killed at least an estimated 57,680 Palestinians, mainly women and children.

The strikes have buried at least 11,000 more under rubble or scattered them across Gaza in forced displacement.

Israeli forces have wiped out entire families, destroyed cities, and pushed hundreds of thousands into overcrowded tent camps lacking basic life necessities.

Israeli strikes have hit hospitals, shelters, and water facilities, reducing Gaza's civilian infrastructure to rubble.

Today's attack marked yet another blow to a population already starved and exhausted.

"This wasn't a military site. They bombed people lining up for baby formula. That's the level we've reached ... we die waiting for food," Lara al-Naji, a Deir al-Balah based woman, told TNA.

"All the time, we live in fear and an anxious state because of the endless Israeli war on us. The Israeli army is killing all of us just to count more and more of the deaths," she said.

Even as the airstrikes rained down, Hamas announced its flexibility in the current round of ceasefire talks underway in Doha.

In a press statement, the movement said it would engage "constructively and responsibly" with mediators to reach a comprehensive agreement that ends Israeli aggression and opens the door to sustained humanitarian access.

Hamas confirmed that it had agreed to release ten Israeli prisoners as part of the negotiations. Still, it reiterated its main demands, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a permanent end to Israel's war.

"We continue to work with mediators to remove obstacles, end our people's suffering and achieve their right to live in freedom and dignity," the group said.

Despite these diplomatic efforts, Israeli leaders have refused to commit to a lasting ceasefire, insisting on maintaining military pressure.

Negotiators in Doha, including representatives from Qatar and Egypt, have struggled to make progress as Israel escalates its attacks and Palestinians bury their dead.