Israeli soldiers film themselves burning ‘food and water supplies’ in Gaza as fighting rages on

This is the sickening moment troops from Israel Defence Forces (IDF) appear to be setting fire to humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Footage circulating on social media showed several men in IDF uniforms grinning as they light food packages and stacks of water bottles at the back of a truck.

Shared by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor non-profit, it is claimed to have been filmed in the Shejaiya neghbourhood of Gaza City, which Israel had described as a ‘centre of gravity’ for Hamas.

Overnight strikes hit ‘a Hamas military communications centre’ and ‘underground tunnel shafts’ in southern Gaza as well as ‘a Hamas military command’ in Shejaiya, an army statement said.

Palestinians mourn their killed relatives at Nasser Hospital after Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis, Gaza on December 10, 2023 (Picture: Getty)

Palestinians fleeing Khan Yunis in southern Gaza Strip further south toward Rafah, try to avoid a crater caused by Israeli bombing along the Salah Al-Din road, on December 10, 2023 (Picture: Getty)

A picture taken from southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on December 10, 2023 (Picture: AFP)

Fighting is currently ongoing at several locations, hours after the US vetoed a vote on a ceasefire – in a defining moment for the United Nations – and approved an emergency sale of tank shells to Israel later.

Words are failing to describe the unprecedented humanitarian disaster across the Palestinian enclave.

With only a trickle of aid allowed in, and delivery rendered impossible in much of the territory, civilians continue to face devastating shortages of food and water.

Khan Younis, a city Israel initially designated as ‘safe’ for the tens of thousands of Palestinians fleeing the north, has now emerged as the latest frontline.

People on the ground heard constant gunfire and explosions through the night as warplanes bombarded areas in and around the southern city.

‘It doesn’t stop,’ said Radwa Abu Frayeh, who lives close to the European Hospital in Khan Younis.

‘There’s bombing, and then the ambulances head out to bring back victims.’

Israel claims it has provided detailed instructions for civilians to evacuate to safer areas, even as it continues to strike what it says are militant targets in all parts of the territory.

Thousands have fled to the southern town of Rafah in recent days – one of the last areas where aid agencies are able to deliver food and water.

Israel has designated a narrow patch of barren southern coastline, Muwasi, as a safe zone but Palestinians described desperately overcrowded conditions with scant shelter and no toilets.

‘I am sleeping on the sand. It’s freezing,’ said Soad Qarmoot, who described herself as a cancer patient forced to leave her home in the northern town of Beit Lahiya.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.