34 Palestinians and 1 soldier killed in Gaza as hopes for imminent truce fade
The fighting in Gaza has shown no sign of slowing as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Donald Trump in Washington this week to work on a U.S.-led ceasefire plan. Hopes for an agreement in the near term appeared to be fading as Netanyahu prepared to return to Israel.
Netanyahu is holding firm to the idea that Hamas must be destroyed, while Hamas wants a complete end to the war following the proposed 60-day truce.
Gaza's Nasser Hospital reported a total of 21 deaths in airstrikes in the southern town of Khan Younis and the nearby coastal area of Muwasi. It said three children and their mother, as well as two additional women, were among the dead.
In central Gaza, at least 13 people were killed in the city of Deir al-Balah, including at least 10 people waiting to receive nutritional supplements at a medical clinic early Thursday, according to Project Hope, an aid group that runs the clinic. Two women and five children were among the dead.
'This is just a tragedy, it is a violation of the humanitarian laws. No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,' said Dr Mithqal Abutaha, the group's project manager, who was at another clinic at the time.
'It was a horrific scene,' he added. 'People had to come seeking health and support, instead they faced death.'
He said the clinic, a humanitarian facility well known to all parties, was mildly damaged and will be closed for several days.
The Israeli military said it struck near the medical center when it was targeting a militant who had infiltrated into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. It said it was investigating.
Additionally, the military said Israeli troops have been working in Khan Younis to dismantle more than 130 Hamas infrastructure sites over the past week, including a 500-meter (yard) tunnel, missile launch sites, and weapons storage facilities.
Over the past 24 hours, massive explosions in Gaza sent plumes of smoke up the sky and were visible from the border with Israel.
On Thursday, the Israeli military announced that a soldier was killed in Khan Younis a day earlier after militants burst out of an underground tunnel and tried to abduct him. The soldier was shot and killed, while troops in the area shot the militants, hitting several of them, the military said.
Eighteen soldiers have been killed in the past three weeks, one of the deadliest periods for the Israeli army in months, putting additional public pressure on Netanyahu to end the war.
An Israeli man in his 20s was killed during an attack at an Israeli supermarket in a settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Thursday afternoon, according to Israel's Magen David Adom emergency rescue services.
Magen David Adom said two people attacked Israeli shoppers with knives, before security guards on site shot them.
Earlier Thursday, a 55-year-old Palestinian man was killed in the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry. The Israeli military said the man was shot after stabbing a soldier in the village of Rumana. The soldier suffered moderate wounds.
The war in Gaza has sparked a surge of violence in the West Bank, with the Israeli military carrying out large-scale operations targeting militants that have killed hundreds of Palestinians and displaced tens of thousands.
That has coincided with a rise in settler violence and Palestinian attacks on Israelis. Palestinian militants from the West Bank have also attacked and killed Israelis in Israel and the West Bank as tensions simmer.
The war began after Hamas attacked Israel in 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Most have been released in earlier ceasefires. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The ministry, which is under Gaza's Hamas-run government, doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants. The U.N. and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
Meanwhile, Israel began demolitions on Thursday of more than a dozen buildings in the central city of Bat Yam, which saw the deadliest Iranian missile strike during the 12-day Israel-Iran war.
Nine people were killed, including five members of the same family, in Bat Yam. The family were Ukrainian refugees who fled the war and came to Israel for medical treatment, according to Israeli media.
Bat Yam mayor Tzvika Brot said the strike left 2,000 people — more than 1 percent of the city's population — homeless. Many are now living at hotels.
'We're going to demolish 20 buildings, but we're going to build them better, stronger, and there will be much more Israeli families running around here. That will be the best answer to our enemies,' he added.
More than 15,000 Israelis were displaced from their homes due to damage from Iranian missiles, according to the Prime Minister's Office.
Iran launched 550 missiles and more than 1,000 drones towards Israel, killing 28 people, and injuring more than 3,000. Iran's government said this week that at least 1,060 Iranians were killed in the war.
__
El Deeb reported from Beirut and Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Northern Arizona resident dies from plague
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A resident of northern Arizona has died from pneumonic plague, health officials said Friday. Plague is rare to humans, with on average about seven cases reported annually in the U.S., most of them in the western states, according to federal health officials. The death in Coconino County, which includes Flagstaff, was the first recorded death from pneumonic plague since 2007, local officials said. Further details including the identify of the victim were not released. Plague is a bacterial infection known for killing tens of millions in 14th century Europe. Today, it's easily treated with antibiotics. The bubonic plague is the most common form of the bacterial infection, which spreads naturally among rodents like prairie dogs and rats. There are two other forms: septicemic plague that spreads through the whole body, and pneumonic plague that infects the lungs. Pneumonic plague is the most deadly and easiest to spread. The bacteria is transmitted through the bites of infected fleas that can spread it between rodents, pets and humans. People can also get plague through touching infected bodily fluids. Health experts recommend taking extra care when handling dead or sick animals. Most cases happen in rural areas of northern New Mexico, northern Arizona, southern Colorado, California, southern Oregon and far western Nevada, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Associated Press
6 hours ago
- Associated Press
Northern Arizona resident dies from plague
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A resident of northern Arizona has died from pneumonic plague, health officials said Friday. Plague is rare to humans, with on average about seven cases reported annually in the U.S., most of them in the western states, according to federal health officials. The death in Coconino County, which includes Flagstaff, was the first recorded death from pneumonic plague since 2007, local officials said. Further details including the identify of the victim were not released. Plague is a bacterial infection known for killing tens of millions in 14th century Europe. Today, it's easily treated with antibiotics. The bubonic plague is the most common form of the bacterial infection, which spreads naturally among rodents like prairie dogs and rats. There are two other forms: septicemic plague that spreads through the whole body, and pneumonic plague that infects the lungs. Pneumonic plague is the most deadly and easiest to spread. The bacteria is transmitted through the bites of infected fleas that can spread it between rodents, pets and humans. People can also get plague through touching infected bodily fluids. Health experts recommend taking extra care when handling dead or sick animals. Most cases happen in rural areas of northern New Mexico, northern Arizona, southern Colorado, California, southern Oregon and far western Nevada, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Boston Globe
9 hours ago
- Boston Globe
A father mourns 2 sons killed in an Israeli strike as hunger worsens in Gaza
Advertisement Hatem Al-Nouri's four-year-old son, Amir, was killed immediately. His eight-year-old son, Omar, was still breathing when he reached the hospital but died shortly thereafter. He said that at first he didn't recognize his third son, two-year-old Siraj, because his eye had been torn out. 'What did these children do to deserve this?' the father said as he broke into tears. 'They were dreaming of having a loaf of bread.' In a separate development, the Palestinian Health Ministry in the Israeli-occupied West Bank said a 23-year-old was beaten to death on Friday by Israeli settlers in the village of Sinjil, near the city of Ramallah. The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said another three Palestinians were wounded. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports. Advertisement A 'sharp and unprecedented' rise in malnutrition Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks while trying to get food, according to local health officials. Experts say hunger is widespread among the territory's 2 million Palestinians and that Israel's blockade and military offensive have put them at risk of famine. The international aid group Doctors Without Borders said it has recorded a 'sharp and unprecedented rise' in acute malnutrition at two clinics it operates in Gaza, with more than 700 pregnant and breastfeeding women, and nearly 500 children, receiving outpatient therapeutic food. 'Our neonatal intensive care unit is severely overcrowded, with four to five babies sharing a single incubator,' Dr. Joanne Perry, a physician with the group, said in a statement. 'This is my third time in Gaza, and I've never seen anything like this. Mothers are asking me for food for their children, pregnant women who are six months along often weigh no more than 40 kilograms (88 pounds).' The Israeli military body in charge of civilian affairs in Gaza says it is allowing enough food to enter and blames the U.N. and other aid groups for not promptly distributing it. Risking their lives for food Israel ended a ceasefire and renewed its offensive in March. It eased a 2 1/2 month blockade in May, but the U.N. and aid groups say they are struggling to distribute humanitarian aid because of Israeli military restrictions and a breakdown of law and order that has led to widespread looting. A separate aid mechanism built around an American group backed by Israel has Palestinians running a deadly gantlet to reach its sites. Witnesses and health officials say hundreds have been killed by Israeli fire while heading toward the distribution points through military zones off limits to independent media. Advertisement The military has acknowledged firing warning shots at Palestinians who it says approached its forces in a suspicious manner. The Israeli- and U.S.-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation denies there has been any violence in or around its sites. But two of its contractors told The Associated Press that their colleagues have fired live ammunition and stun grenades as Palestinians scramble for food, allegations denied by the foundation. The U.N. Human Rights Office said Thursday that it has recorded 798 killings near Gaza aid sites in a little over a month leading up to July 7. Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the office, said 615 were killed 'in the vicinity of the GHF sites' and the remainder on convoy routes used by other aid groups. A GHF spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the group's policies, rejected the 'false and misleading stats,' saying most of the deaths were linked to shootings near U.N. convoys, which pass by Israeli army positions and have been attacked by armed gangs and unloaded by crowds. Israel has long accused U.N. bodies of being biased against it. No ceasefire after two days of Trump-Netanyahu talks Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and abducted 251. They still hold 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, which is under Gaza's Hamas-run government, doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The U.N. and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties. Advertisement U.S. President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war. But there were no signs of a breakthrough this week after two days of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. The emerging agreement would include a 60-day ceasefire, the release of 10 hostages and the bodies of 18 more, and a flood of aid into the territory. The two sides would also begin negotiations on a lasting ceasefire. Netanyahu has said he will not end the war without the full disarmament of Hamas, which refuses to lay down its weapons as long as Israel occupies lands the Palestinians want for a future state. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. ___ Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem, contributed.
