Dozens of Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported, citing medical sources.

Since the morning, 41 people have been killed across the territory, the agency said, with several fatalities, including a 12-year-old child, coming from drone strikes in the northern and southern parts of the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s military initially did not comment on the report when asked.

The Israeli army has repeatedly stated that it is targeting members of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas militia and other terrorist organizations in Gaza. It consistently emphasizes that it seeks to avoid harming uninvolved civilians during strikes on the groups’ targets.

Report: IDF will not allow Thunberg’s ship to dock in Gaza

Meanwhile, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and others aboard a sailing ship will not be allowed to dock in the Gaza Strip, according to an Israeli media report.

Israel’s security authorities have decided that the group will also not be permitted to approach the Palestinian territory, the broadcaster Kan 11 reported. The decision was reportedly made so as not to set a precedent for others.

On Thursday, Defence Minister Israel Katz and senior military officials are expected to discuss further steps, according to the broadcaster. The report suggests that the ship could be towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where the activists on board might be detained. Israel’s government has so far declined to comment on the report.

Israel has previously denied activists permission to dock their ships in Gaza. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s sailing ship, dubbed the Madleen, set sail from Sicily on Sunday. According to the coalition, there are 12 activists on board.

The group claims they are carrying aid supplies such as baby food and medical goods for people in need in the Gaza Strip. But they also aim to draw international attention to the humanitarian situation in the region.

Thunberg has repeatedly expressed solidarity with Palestinians and accused Israel of genocide.

Critics, however, accuse Thunberg of taking a one-sided pro-Palestinian stance on the Gaza war and the events that triggered it.

The German government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, described Thunberg’s statements on the Middle East conflict following the 2023 attach as “hostile to Israel and, through the veiled denial of Israel’s right to exist, also anti-Semitic.”

No aid distribution on Wednesday

Following reports that Israeli forces killed people near a food distribution site in Gaza, all aid centres in the coastal strip remained closed on Wednesday, the Israeli military announced.

Avichay Adraee, Arabic spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said on X that facilities would remain shut for “renovation, organization and efficiency improvement works,” citing the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which runs the aid operations.

The military warned civilians to avoid approaching the centres, declaring the surrounding roads as combat zones. “It is strictly prohibited to enter the distribution centre areas,” the spokesman added.

The centres are expected to reopen on Thursday.

The closure comes after the Hamas-run health ministry said Israeli troops opened fire on civilians near a distribution point on Tuesday, killing at least 27 people and wounding about 90.

The IDF said its soldiers, stationed about 500 metres from the site, spotted individuals approaching who they deemed a threat. Troops initially fired warning shots before shooting at individual suspects who didn’t retreat. The claims could not be independently verified.

The GHF had launched its distribution network just over a week ago after Israel, under international pressure, allowed limited humanitarian access following nearly three months of blockade.

The current conflict began in October 2023, when Hamas and others invaded Israel, killed 1,200 and took some 250 hostage, which triggered a massive Israeli response, resulting in more than 53,000 Palestinian deaths, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between civilian and military casualties.