logo
Israel sends tanks into Gaza's Deir al-Balah; hostage families concerned

Israel sends tanks into Gaza's Deir al-Balah; hostage families concerned

Japan Today7 days ago
Smoke rises during Israeli strikes amid the Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
Israeli tanks pushed into southern and eastern districts of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah for the first time on Monday, an area where Israeli sources said the military believes hostages may be held.
The area is packed with Palestinians displaced during more than 21 months of war in Gaza, hundreds of whom fled west or south after Israel issued an evacuation order, saying it sought to destroy infrastructure and capabilities of the militant group Hamas.
Tank shelling in the area hit houses and mosques, killing at least three Palestinians and wounding several others, local medics said.
"U.N. staff remain in Deir al-Balah, and two U.N. guesthouses have been struck, despite parties having been informed of the locations of U.N. premises, which are inviolable. These locations – as with all civilian sites – must be protected, regardless of evacuation orders," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
To the south in Khan Younis, an Israeli airstrike killed at least five people, including a husband and wife and their two children in a tent, medics said.
In its daily update, Gaza's Health Ministry said at least 130 Palestinians had been killed and more than 1,000 wounded by Israeli gunfire and military strikes across the territory in the past 24 hours, one of the highest such totals in recent weeks.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis incidents.
Israeli sources have said the reason the army had stayed out of the Deir al-Balah districts was because they suspected Hamas might be holding hostages there. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in captivity in Gaza are believed to be still alive.
Families of the hostages have expressed concern for their relatives and demanded an explanation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Israel Katz, and the army chief on how they will protect them.
"The people of Israel will not forgive anyone who knowingly endangered the hostages - both the living and the deceased. No one will be able to claim they didn't know what was at stake," the Hostage Families Forum Headquarters said in a statement.
Gaza health officials have warned of potential "mass deaths" in coming days from hunger, which has killed at least 19 people since Saturday, the Hamas-run territory's Health Ministry said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was appalled by an accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Gaza "where the last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing," Dujarric said.
"He deplores the growing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition," said Dujarric.
"Israel has the obligation to allow and facilitate by all the means at its disposal the humanitarian relief provided by the United Nations and by other humanitarian organizations."
Health officials say hospitals have been running out of fuel, food aid, and medicine, risking a halt to vital operations.
Health Ministry spokesperson Khalil Al-Deqran said medical staff have been depending on one meal a day and that hundreds of people flock to hospitals every day, suffering from fatigue and exhaustion.
In southern Gaza, the Health Ministry said an Israeli undercover unit had on Monday detained Marwan Al-Hams, head of Gaza's field hospitals, in a raid that killed a local journalist and wounded another outside a field medical facility run by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
An ICRC spokesperson said the ICRC had treated patients injured in the incident but did not comment further on their status. It said it was "very concerned about the safety and security" around the field hospital.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel has raided and attacked hospitals across Gaza during the war, accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes, an accusation the group denies. Sending undercover forces to carry out arrests is rare.
The incursion into Deir al-Balah and growing number of deaths appeared to be complicating efforts to secure a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt, with U.S. backing.
A Hamas official told Reuters on Sunday that the militant group was angered by the mounting death toll and hunger crisis, and that this could affect the talks on a 60-day truce and hostage deal.
AID WAITING
UNRWA, the U.N. refugee agency dedicated to Palestinians, said on X it was receiving desperate messages from Gaza warning of starvation, including from its own staff, as food prices have soared.
"Meanwhile, just outside Gaza, stockpiled in warehouses, UNRWA has enough food for the entire population for over three months. Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale," it said.
The Health Ministry said on Sunday at least 67 people were killed by Israeli fire as they waited for U.N. aid trucks to enter Gaza. It said at least 36 aid seekers were killed a day earlier.
Israel's military said its troops had fired warning shots to remove what it said was "an immediate threat." It said initial findings suggested reported casualty figures were inflated.
Israel's military said it "views the transfer of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as a matter of utmost importance, and works to enable and facilitate its entry in coordination with the international community".
Britain and more than 20 other countries called on Monday for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and criticised the Israeli government's aid delivery model after hundreds of Palestinians were killed near sites distributing food. Israel rejected the statement "as it is disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas."
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed over 59,000 Palestinians, according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population, and caused a humanitarian crisis.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Nobel panel head urges Japan gov't to step up antinuclear stance
Nobel panel head urges Japan gov't to step up antinuclear stance

Kyodo News

time2 hours ago

  • Kyodo News

Nobel panel head urges Japan gov't to step up antinuclear stance

TOKYO - Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, on Monday urged the Japanese government to take more steps to discourage the use of nuclear weapons amid rising global tensions. "Japan has special responsibility in a world where the 'nuclear taboo' is under threat. We really believe that responsibility should be taken at a higher regard also from the Japanese authorities," he said, also referring to the key roles of other countries in nuclear abolition. He made the remarks at a press conference in Tokyo during his visit to Japan, following the committee's decision last year to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo, the country's leading group of atomic bomb survivors. Japan is the only country to have suffered nuclear attacks, and it advocates for a world without the weapons. At the same time, the country is protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella deterrence, and it has not joined a U.N. treaty banning the weapons. Frydnes noted that responsibility must be "global" as the increased destructive power of modern nuclear arms means the damage caused is unlikely to be confined to one nation. "We cannot limit that responsibility to just one nation and particularly not to just the nation that has experienced (attacks)," he said. While in Japan, Frydnes met atomic bomb survivors, known as hibakusha, visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki and attended a nuclear disarmament event hosted by the Norwegian Nobel Institute and Nihon Hidankyo, also known as the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations. Frydnes praised Japan and the hibakusha's work to preserve the memory of the bombings, saying "we must not allow (the memories) to be lost in time or to bureaucracy or indifference." The Nobel committee said in October that it decided to award Hidankyo with the 2024 prize "for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again." The United States dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, detonating a second above Nagasaki three days later. Japan surrendered six days after the Nagasaki bombing, bringing an end to World War II. The attacks killed an estimated 214,000 people by the end of 1945.

Aid airdropped into Gaza as Israel temporarily halts military operations
Aid airdropped into Gaza as Israel temporarily halts military operations

NHK

time8 hours ago

  • NHK

Aid airdropped into Gaza as Israel temporarily halts military operations

Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have jointly airdropped aid into the Gaza Strip after Israel temporarily halted military operations in parts of the enclave. Israel announced on Sunday a pause in military activity during specific hours in areas where many residents live as evacuees. Israel also said that designated secure routes will be in place to enable the United Nations and other aid organizations to deliver supplies safely. The move comes as global outrage increased over rising deaths of Palestinians from starvation after Israel imposed restrictions on the delivery of aid. Local media say that the total amount of airdropped aid by Jordan and the United Arab Emirates on Sunday was about 25 tons. At the Rafah crossing on the border between Gaza and Egypt, trucks carrying supplies headed toward the strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted on the same day that Israel is making progress on both fighting and negotiations, and that it will continue to fight until Hamas is destroyed and all hostages are released. Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera reported on Sunday that a house in northern Gaza was hit by an Israeli attack, and a mother and her four children were killed.

Israel eases Gaza aid curbs, hoping to defuse hunger outcry
Israel eases Gaza aid curbs, hoping to defuse hunger outcry

Japan Times

time12 hours ago

  • Japan Times

Israel eases Gaza aid curbs, hoping to defuse hunger outcry

Israel increased aid distribution to the Gaza Strip over the weekend in an effort to defuse a growing international outcry over hunger convulsing the shattered Palestinian enclave. The relief came after ceasefire talks faltered last week. Israel and the U.S. accused Hamas of stonewalling and hinted that a further escalation in the more-than-21-month-old war could follow. But as warnings around the crisis spiraled, Israel Defense Forces on Sunday suspended some military operations against Hamas to facilitate the movement of U.N. relief convoys, and restored electricity supplies to a desalination plant in Gaza for the first time since March. The decision was made after Israeli experts monitoring the humanitarian crisis identified "problematic' levels of hunger, a spokesperson for the IDF said in a televised briefing. As the aid curbs were rolled back, the Israeli government and military said Sunday it had not abandoned its goals of destroying Hamas and releasing the hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would enable the passage of "minimal humanitarian supplies' into the territory, according to a statement, even as the military continues fighting there and negotiators pursue a truce. Mahmoud Mardawi, a senior Hamas official, described the about-face on Telegram as "not a solution, but rather, a belated and twisted confession of a crime having been committed.' Hamas official Bassem Naim said in a statement the new aid "will not create an environment suitable for negotiations.' U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that "Israel is going to have to make a decision' about its next steps in Gaza now that talks appeared at a stalemate. "I know what I'd do, but I don't think it's appropriate that I'd say,' he said. He also noted the U.S. had sent $60 million in food aid in the last two weeks and "nobody said, 'Gee, thank you very much, and it would be nice to have at least a thank you.' The U.N. World Food Program has warned for weeks that the entire population of 2.1 million people in the Gaza Strip faces crisis levels of food insecurity. Scores of aid groups say starvation is fast spreading. That's seen world anger toward Israel's government on the rise amid increasing reports and images of emaciated babies, children crammed into soup queues, and men tussling over bags of flour. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke by phone on Sunday with Netanyahu, expressing "deep concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza' and urging "further substantial steps,' according to a readout from his office. While continuing to deny accusations that it's deliberately starving Gazans, Israel has now begun parachuting in food supplies. That's a delivery mechanism tried by several foreign air forces a year ago but abandoned, at the time, amid concerns about scale and safety. Sunday's decision marked a de facto reversal of Israel's cut-off of U.N.-led humanitarian relief in March after the previous Gaza ceasefire expired, a tactic Netanyahu aides had said would deprive Hamas of a means of controlling the populace while feeding its own fighters. In a statement, Netanyahu accused the United Nations of "making excuses and lying' about the lack of safe corridors to deliver aid. "There are secured routes. There always were, but today it's official. There will be no more excuses.' Prices of flour and sugar in Gaza dropped on the news of renewed aid deliveries, according to local residents. In Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, a kilogram of flour was sold at 30 shekels ($9), down from 60 shekels on Saturday. Sugar prices dropped by 200 shekels, selling at 400 shekels per kilogram. Residents said merchants were still waiting to see how much aid is expected to flow in. Israel sidelined the U.N.'s relief network earlier in the year and set up a U.S.-backed alternative, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, to distribute aid with the aim of excluding Hamas. | Bloomberg Eli Cohen, a minister in Netanyahu's security Cabinet, said plans for the next stage of the war had been approved. Interviewed on Israel's Army Radio, he gave no details. He did, however, reiterate that Israel doesn't consider Hamas leaders abroad to have "immunity' from its attacks. Israeli troops and tanks have already overrun 75% of the Gaza Strip, skirting areas where Hamas is believed to be holding 50 hostages. The proposed truce would have returned half of them in exchange for hundreds of jailed Palestinians, and boosted aid for Gaza, over a period of 60 days. Recovering the remaining hostages, however, would have required Israel commit to ending the war and fully withdrawing, Hamas said. Israel has ruled that out so long as Hamas, which is on terrorism blacklists in much of the West, retains weaponry and rules in Gaza. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right member of Netanyahu's coalition government, said he was excluded from the decision to restore U.N. aid. His ideological kinsman, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, also opposes pausing the assault on Hamas and wants a total Gaza takeover — even if that poses a risk to the 20 hostages believed to be still alive. Netanyahu on Friday said Israel and the U.S. were "considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas's terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region.' That followed a threat by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz that the "gates of hell will open' if Hamas didn't free the hostages soon. Asked on 103 FM what such statements might presage, Israel's Ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, said, "I'm not aware of any inventions that haven't already been tried.' More than 59,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel launched the offensive in retaliation for a Hamas cross-border raid on Oct. 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 kidnapped. It has lost 455 soldiers in Gaza combat, including three over the weekend. Aid convoys from Jordan and Egypt rolled into Gaza on Sunday. The Israeli military said "humanitarian corridors,' around which it would hold fire, were being established in coordination with the U.N. for deliveries to areas where ground forces aren't active. Construction of a UAE-initiated water pipeline from Egypt to Gaza would commence in the coming days, it added. When it sidelined the U.N. relief network earlier in the year, Israel set up a U.S.-backed alternative, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, with the aim of excluding Hamas. The foundation says it's distributed enough food staples for more than 90 million meals, yet has acknowledged not being able to reach all of Gaza's population. It's also been dogged by allegations that hundreds of Palestinians aid seekers have been shot dead near its distribution points — incidents for which the GHF and IDF have denied responsibility. Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, told Al Araby TV on Saturday that as part of the truce talks, Israel had agreed to disband the GHF. Israeli officials have neither confirmed nor denied that.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store