Israel sends tanks into Gaza's Deir Al-Balah, where it believes hostages are
tanks pushed into southern and eastern areas of the
Gazan
city of Deir Al-Balah for the first time on Monday, an area where Israeli sources said the military believes some of the remaining hostages may be being held.
Gaza medics said at least three
Palestinians
were killed and several were wounded in tank shelling that hit eight houses and three mosques in the area, and which came a day after the military ordered residents to leave, saying it planned to fight Hamas militants.
The raid and bombardment pushed dozens of families who had remained to flee and head west towards the coastal area of Deir Al-Balah and nearby Khan Younis.
In Khan Younis, earlier on Monday, an Israeli air strike killed at least five people, including a man, his wife, and their two children, in a tent, medics said.
READ MORE
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis incidents.
Israel's military said it had not entered the districts of Deir Al-Balah subject to the evacuation order during the current conflict and that it was continuing 'to operate with great force to destroy the enemy's capabilities and terrorist infrastructure in the area'.
Israeli sources have said the reason the army has so far stayed out is that they suspect 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 expressed their concern for their relatives and demanded an explanation from the army of how it would protect them.
The military escalation comes as Gaza health officials warned of potential 'mass deaths' in the coming days due to mounting hunger, which has killed at least 19 people since Saturday, according to the territory's health ministry.
Health officials said hospitals were 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 because of hunger.
At least 67 people were killed by Israeli fire on Sunday as they waited for UN aid trucks to enter Gaza.
Israel's military said its troops had fired warning shots towards a crowd of thousands of people in northern Gaza to remove what it said was 'an immediate threat'.
It said initial findings suggested reported casualty figures were inflated, and it 'certainly does not intentionally target humanitarian aid trucks'.
The new raid and escalating number of fatalities appeared to be complicating ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel that are being mediated by Qatar and Egypt, with US backing.
A Hamas official told Reuters on Sunday that the militant group was angered over the mounting deaths and the hunger crisis in the enclave, and that this could badly affect ceasefire talks under way in Qatar.
Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a 60-day truce and hostage deal, although there has been no sign of breakthrough.
Unrwa, the UN refugee agency dedicated to Palestinians, said in a post on X on Monday, it was receiving desperate messages from Gaza warning of starvation, including from its own staff as food prices have increased 40-fold.
'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.
Israel's military said on Sunday that 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 co-ordination with the international community'.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7th, 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 more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis. - Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
6 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Israel to allow foreign aid to parachute into Gaza but continues bombardment despite growing global pleas for ceasefire
ISRAEL will allow foreign aid to parachute into Gaza despite continuing its relentless onslaught. Horror scenes of mass starvation have sparked an Advertisement 7 A mother cradles her 18-month child in Gaza where fears of famine are growing Credit: Getty 7 Smoke billows over destroyed buildings after an Israeli airstrike Credit: AFP 7 Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen Credit: Reuters 7 A boy cries as he tries to receive food in the under siege territory Credit: Getty Aid groups warned this week Palestinians are on the brink of famine with one in five children suffering from malnutrition, with UN warning civilians are becoming "walking corpses". But Israel has denied responsibility, Aid drops into the territory will be managed by Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, an Israeli official said. Despite the concession, Advertisement Read more on Gaza here Explosions from fresh overnight strikes rocked the besieged coastal strip, with Israeli Defence Forces troops continuing to advance on Hamas lairs. The terrorists are still hiding out within civilian communities after the cornered Islamist group repeatedly rejected ceasefire terms. French president Macron held emergency talks over the crisis today with UK PM Sir Keir Starmer who called conditions in the 25-mile enclave 'unspeakable and indefensible'. Advertisement Most read in The US Sun Starmer has already declared statehood is Palestinians' 'inalienable right' but has yet to officially declare recognition. Humanitarian workers have reported seeing children 'emaciated, weak and at high risk of dying' without urgent treatment, Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UNRWA relief agency said. Parish priest Gabriel Romanelli is being treated after Israel hit Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza Starmer said: 'We are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe. 'The suffering and starvation unfolding in Gaza is unspeakable and indefensible. While the situation has been grave for some time, it has reached new depths and continues to worsen.' Advertisement Gaza's health ministry - which is controlled by Hamas - said 82 of 113 hunger-related deaths recorded there so far are Palestinian children. But scores of desperate, innocent civilians have been killed queuing for food aid amid claims of IDF atrocities. US and Israeli negotiators in Qatar walked out of ceasefire talks on Thursday after Hamas submitted a list of 'impossible' demands. They reportedly included the release of more prisoners in exchange for hostages, including captured commandos involved in the October 7 attacks. Advertisement He added that the terror group's 'lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza' was the reason US negotiators had been recalled. 7 Smoke and flames rise from a residential building hit by an Israeli strike Credit: Reuters 7 Injured Palestinians are transported to hospitals Credit: Getty Advertisement 7 Thousands gather in Tel Aviv to protest the ongoing attacks on Gaza Credit: Getty Thousands gathered in Tel Aviv's Habima Square on Thursday for a protest demanding Israel's strongman PM Benjamin Netanyahu end the Gaza war and return the hostages. Netanyahu has been accused of prolonging the bloodbath to save his political skin - and deflect blame for the security lapses which enabled Hamas to carry out the October 7 horror. The rally, which began with a moment of silence for fallen soldiers, was joined by parents of hostages, parents of soldiers, and reservists demanding and end to the war. Advertisement Retired military commander Major General Noam Tibon said at the rally: 'In the beginning, this was a just war after 22 months, this war no longer has a security purpose. 'The war has turned into a political war, and while the best of us are falling in Gaza.'
Irish Times
8 hours ago
- Irish Times
Gaza running out of specialised food to save malnourished children, UN says
Gaza is on the brink of running out of the specialised therapeutic food needed to save the lives of severely malnourished children, United Nations and humanitarian agencies say. 'We are now facing a dire situation, that we are running out of therapeutic supplies,' Salim Oweis, a spokesperson for Unicef in Amman, Jordan, told Reuters. He said supplies of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a crucial treatment, would be depleted by mid-August if nothing changed. 'That's really dangerous for children as they face hunger and malnutrition at the moment,' he added. READ MORE Mr Oweis said Unicef had only enough RUTF left to treat 3,000 children. In the first two weeks of July alone, Unicef treated 5,000 children facing acute malnutrition in Gaza. Nutrient-dense, high-calorie RUTF supplies, such as high-energy biscuits and peanut paste enriched with milk powder, are critical for treating severe malnutrition. 'Most malnutrition treatment supplies have been consumed and what is left at facilities will run out very soon if not replenished,' a World Health Organisation spokesperson said on Thursday. World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday Gaza was suffering man-made mass starvation caused by a blockade on aid into the enclave. Israel will allow foreign countries to parachute aid into Gaza starting on Friday, Israeli army radio quoted a military official as saying. The Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry says more than 100 people have died from starvation in the Palestinian enclave since Israel cut off supplies to the territory in March. Israel, which has been at war with Hamas in Gaza since October 2023, lifted that blockade in May but has restrictions in place that it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups. Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia and fellow Gulf Arab states on Friday welcomed French president Emmanuel Macron's announcement that France would recognise the state of Palestine, and urged other countries to follow suit, AFP reports. The Saudi foreign ministry said: 'The kingdom commends this historic decision, which reaffirms the international community's consensus on the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and to establish their independent state.' It called on other countries 'that have not yet recognised the State of Palestine to take similar positive steps'. Qatar, a key mediator in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas on ending the Gaza war, also welcomed the French move. Gaza ceasefire talks are expected to resume next week following Israel's review of the response by Palestinian Hamas militants, Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Friday, citing an Egyptian source. – Agencies
The Journal
9 hours ago
- The Journal
Starvation crisis in Gaza features heavily on front pages of international newspapers
A STARK WARNING from the UN yesterday which detailed the true extent of the humanitarian and food crisis in Gaza features heavily on the front pages of many international newspapers this morning. Following four months of siege by Israel, Gaza's few remaining hospitals are now seeing growing numbers of children arriving with signs of malnutrition. Doctors, journalists and aid workers are reporting dizzy spells and nausea. The UN has pleaded with Israel, who controls Gaza's borders, to allow an increased distribution of aid and to put an end to its offensive on the region. According to its report, a third of Palestinians in the region are going days without eating. UK In the UK, The Guardian leads with the UN's warning and has placed an image of a 'desperate Palestinian child' waiting for food on its front page this morning. The Daily Express also features the 'crisis' in Gaza in one of its teasers on the front page. It quotes the UK aid charity Humanity & Inclusion, that claimed inaction is 'the erosion of what makes us human'. Lastly, the Daily Mirror has also led with a demand by Labour MP Emily Thornberry to the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer for Britain to 'do more' to put an end to the starvation and slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. US & Israel Three papers from allies US and Israel, who yesterday both pulled out of peace talks with Hamas in Qatar before equally denouncing France's intention to recognise Palestine as a State in September, include front-page reports on the starvation in Gaza. The Los Angeles Times includes an image of Palestinians with cutlery, pleading for food at an aid station. It depicts two upset children crying out for aid. Advertisement The report alongside the image tallies the demands from around the world for peace. A similarly harrowing image is on the front of The Washington Post this morning. It depicts mother Samah Matar holding her son Youssef and the article below details the increasing death toll and risk of starvation which the population is facing. Israel's paper of record, Haaretz, leads with a report detailing the sharp rise in the number of children in Gaza suffering from malnutrition. Four out of the five headlines on its front page this morning references Gaza and reports on the war. A widely publicised image of a one-year-old child with lift-threatening malnutrition and his mother appears on the front page alongside the reports. The boy weighs only six kilograms, the caption of the image reads. France Papers in France, where President Emmanuel Macron announced yesterday its intention to recognise the State of Palestine in September, also over the 'famine in Gaza'. An image of a young boy holding a bowl and seeking food is printed on the front page of metro paper, Le Parisien . 'Indignaiton Escalates' reads the headline. Le Monde 's headline this morning reads: 'The Gaza Strip: The ravages of famine'. Its front page features the same image of Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
