Eight people seeking food among at least 12 killed by Israeli fire in Gaza
Near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution site, Yahia Youssef, who had come to seek aid on Saturday morning, described a panicked scene now grimly familiar.
Advertisement
After helping carry out three people wounded by gunshots, he said he looked around and saw many others lying on the ground bleeding.
'It's the same daily episode,' Mr Youssef said.
In response to questions about several witness accounts of violence at the northernmost of the Israeli-backed American contractor's four sites, the GHF media office said 'nothing (happened) at or near our sites'.
The episode came a day after US officials visited one site and the US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called GHF's distribution 'an incredible feat'.
Advertisement
International outrage has mounted as the group's efforts to deliver aid to hunger-stricken Gaza have been marred by violence and controversy.
'We weren't close to them (the troops) and there was no threat,' Abed Salah, a man in his 30s who was among the crowds close to the GHF site near Netzarim corridor, said. 'I escaped death miraculously.'
Families of hostages protest Tel Aviv, Israel (Ariel Schalit/AP)
The danger facing aid seekers in Gaza has compounded what international hunger experts this week called a 'worst-case scenario of famine' in the besieged enclave.
Israel's near 22-month military offensive against Hamas has shattered security in the territory of some 2.0 million Palestinians and made it nearly impossible to deliver food safely to starving people.
Advertisement
From May 27 to July 31, 859 people were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites, according to a United Nations report published on Thursday. Hundreds more have been killed along the routes of food convoys.
Israel and GHF have said they have only fired warning shots and that the toll has been exaggerated.
Health officials reported that Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed at least 18 Palestinians on Saturday, including three whose bodies were transported from the vicinity of a distribution site to a central Gaza hospital along with 36 others who were wounded.
Officials said 10 of Saturday's casualties were killed by strikes in central and southern Gaza.
Advertisement
Nasser Hospital said it received the bodies of five people killed in two separate strikes on tents sheltering displaced people.
The dead include two brothers and a relative, who were killed when a strike hit their tent close to a main thoroughfare in Khan Younis.
Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, families of Israeli hostages protested and urged Israel's government to push harder for the release of their loved ones, including those shown in footage released by militant groups earlier this week.
US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff joined them a day after visiting Gaza and a week after walking away from ceasefire talks in Qatar, blaming Hamas's intransigence and pledging to find other ways to free hostages and make Gaza safe.
Advertisement
Of the 251 hostages who were abducted when Hamas led an attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023, about 20 are believed to be alive in Gaza.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the second-largest militant group in Gaza, released separate videos of individual hostages this week, triggering outrage among hostage families and Israeli society.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians and operates under the Hamas government.
The UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Egyptian TV reports rare arrival of fuel trucks for Gaza
CAIRO, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Sunday that two fuel trucks carrying 107 tons of diesel were set to enter Gaza, months after Israel severely restricted aid access to the enclave before easing it somewhat as starvation began to spread. Gaza's health ministry has said fuel shortages have severely impaired hospital services, forcing doctors to focus on treating only critically ill or injured patients. There was no immediate confirmation whether the fuel trucks had indeed entered Gaza. Fuel shipments have been rare since March, when Israel restricted the flow of aid and goods into the enclave in what it said was pressure on Hamas militants to free the remaining hostages they took in their October 2023 attack on Israel. The Gaza health ministry said on Sunday that six more people had died of starvation and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, raising the toll of those dying of such causes to 175, including 93 children, since the war began. Israel blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza but, in response to a rising international outcry, it announced steps last week to let more aid reach the population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, approving air drops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. United Nations agencies have said that airdrops of food are insufficient and that Israel must let in far more aid by land and open up access to the war-devastated territory where starvation has been spreading. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, said 35 trucks have entered Gaza since June, nearly all of them in July. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said on Sunday that nearly 1,600 aid trucks had arrived since Israel eased restrictions late in July. However, witnesses and Hamas sources said many of those trucks have been looted by desperate displaced people and armed gangs. More than 700 trucks of fuel entered the Gaza Strip in January and February during a ceasefire before Israel broke it in March in a dispute over terms for extending it and resumed its major offensive. Palestinian local health authorities said at least 18 people had been killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes across the coastal enclave on Sunday. Deaths included persons trying to make their way to aid distribution points in southern and central areas of Gaza, Palestinian medics said. Among those killed was a staff member of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, which said an Israeli strike at their headquarters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza ignited a fire on the first floor of the building. The Gaza war began when Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in a cross-border attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel's air and ground war in densely populated Gaza has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to enclave health officials. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Hundreds of children from Gaza to be brought to UK for medical treatment
Up to 300 children could be evacuated from Gaza and given NHS treatment in the UK. The plans are reportedly set to be announced within weeks. A parent or guardian will accompany each child, as well as siblings if necessary, and the Home Office will carry out biometric and security checks before travel, the Sunday Times reported. This will happen 'in parallel' with an initiative by Project Pure Hope, a group set up to bring sick and injured Gazan children to the UK privately for treatment. More than 50,000 children are estimated to have been killed or injured in Gaza since October 2023, according to Unicef. Sir Keir Starmer said last week that the UK was 'urgently accelerating' efforts to bring children over for treatment. A Government spokesperson said: 'We are taking forward plans to evacuate more children from Gaza who require urgent medical care, including bringing them to the UK for specialist treatment where that is the best option for their care. 'We are working at pace to do so as quickly as possible, with further details to be set out in due course.' The UK and Jordan have been working together to air drop aid amid warnings of widespread malnourishment in Gaza. It comes as the UK seeks to put pressure on Israel to change course with a plan to recognise a Palestinian state in September ahead of the UN General Assembly. Sir Keir has said the UK would only refrain from recognising Palestine if Israel allows more aid into Gaza, stops annexing land in the West Bank, agrees to a ceasefire and signs up to a long-term peace process over the next two months. Concerns have been raised this could see a Palestinian state recognised by the UK without Hamas releasing the remaining Israeli hostages. British families of hostages say the Government has made clear to them that releases would 'play no part' in the UK's plans to recognise Palestine and that it could see those still held 'rot in Hamas dungeons'. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK's demands for Hamas to release all hostages and play no role in the future of Gaza are 'absolute and unconditional'. He told The Sunday Times: 'The UK position on recognition is part of (a) co-ordinated international effort. It must begin with an immediate ceasefire that frees the hostages and ends the agony of their families, and which lifts the inhumane aid restrictions.'
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Israel-Gaza war live: Netanyahu meets hostage families over video release
Update: Date: 2025-08-03T08:25:53.000Z Title: Opening summary: Netanyahu meets hostage families over video release Content: Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken with relatives of two hostages held in Gaza seen in videos released by Palestinian militant groups, expressing his 'profound shock' over the images, the Israeli prime minister's office said. Since Thursday, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have released three clips showing two hostages taken during the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza. The images of Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, looking emaciated after nearly 22 months of captivity, have sparked strong reactions among Israelis, fuelling renewed calls to reach a truce and hostage release deal without delay. 'The prime minister expressed profound shock over the materials distributed by the terror organisations Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and told the families that the efforts to return all our hostages are ongoing, and will continue constantly and relentlessly,' said a statement from Netanyahu's office released late Saturday. In the footage, 21-year-old Braslavski, a German-Israeli dual national, and 24-year-old David both appear weak and malnourished. The videos make references to the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where UN-mandated experts have warned a 'famine is unfolding'. In other developments: Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV has reported that two fuel trucks carrying 107 tons of diesel are due to enter Gaza, following months of Israeli restrictions on goods and aid. Gaza's health ministry has warned that fuel shortages are impeding hospital operations. The Palestinian Health Ministry has said on Telegram that Unicef trucks carrying medicines and medical equipment are scheduled to enter Gaza today. They said these trucks will not contain food supplies. Hospitals reported that 18 Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces on Saturday – including eight victims near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution points. Since GHF assumed control in May, 859 people have been killed waiting for aid. Nearly nine out of 10 Israeli military investigations into allegations of war crimes or abuses by its soldiers since the start of the war in Gaza have been closed without finding fault or left without resolution, according to a conflict monitor. Scottish first minister John Swinney described Israel's actions in Gaza as 'clear genocide' for the first time publicly on Saturday, as political pressure in the UK mounts. Stay with us as we follow the developments.
