Nearly 800 killed while receiving aid in Gaza, UN human rights office says
The GHF uses private U.S. security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a U.N.-led system that Israel says had let militants divert aid.
The United Nations has called the plan 'inherently unsafe' and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules.
'Up until the seventh of July, we've recorded now 798 killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, and 183 presumably on the route of aid convoys,' OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May and has repeatedly denied that incidents had occurred at its sites.
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CTV News
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Israeli strikes kill at least 30 in Gaza as Palestinian war deaths top 58,000
Smoke from an explosion rises in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from a southern Israel location on Sunday, July 13, 2025. (Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 30 people on Sunday, including six children at a water collection point, while the Palestinian death toll passed 58,000 after 21 months of war, local health officials said. Israel and Hamas appeared no closer to a breakthrough in indirect talks meant to pause the war and free some Israeli hostages after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Washington visit last week. A new sticking point has emerged over Israeli troops ' deployment during a ceasefire. Israel says it will end the war only once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something it refuses to do. Hamas says it is willing to free all the remaining 50 hostages, about 20 said to be alive, in exchange for an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces. Throughout the war in Gaza, violence has surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Funerals were held there Sunday for two Palestinians, including Palestinian-American Sayfollah Musallet, killed by Israeli settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Children killed and Israel blames a technical error In central Gaza, officials at Al-Awda Hospital said it received 10 bodies after an Israeli strike on a water collection point in nearby Nuseirat. Among the dead were six children. Ramadan Nassar, a witness who lives in the area, told The Associated Press that around 20 children and 14 adults had been lined up to get water. He said Palestinians walk some 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) to fetch water from the area. The Israeli military said it was targeting a militant but a technical error made its munitions fall 'dozens of meters from the target.' In Nuseirat, a small boy leaned over a body bag to say goodbye to a friend. 'There is no safe place,' resident Raafat Fanouna said as some people went over the rubble with sticks and bare hands. Separately, health officials said an Israeli strike hit a group of citizens walking in the street on Sunday afternoon in central Gaza City, killing 11 people and injuring around 30 others. Dr. Ahmed Qandil, who specializes in general surgery, was among those killed, Gaza's Health Ministry said. A ministry spokesperson, Zaher al-Wahidi, told the AP that Qandil had been on his way to Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital. In the central town of Zawaida, an Israeli strike on a home killed nine, including two women and three children, officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said. Israel's military said it was unaware of the strike on the home, but said it hit more than 150 targets over the past 24 hours, including what it called weapons storage facilities, missile launchers and sniping posts. Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militant group operates out of populated areas. Gaza's Health Ministry says women and children make up more than half of the over 58,000 dead in the war. The ministry, 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. The Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251. Israel's Energy Minister Eli Cohen told right-wing Channel 14 that his ministry will not help rebuild infrastructure in Gaza. 'Gaza should remain an island of ruins to the next decades,' he said. Funeral for Palestinian-American killed in the West Bank In the West Bank, which has seen violence between Israeli troops and Palestinians and Israeli settlers' attacks on Palestinians, funerals were held for a Palestinian-American and a Palestinian friend. The Palestinian Health Ministry said Musallet, from Florida, had been beaten by Israeli settlers. Diana Halum, a cousin, said the attack occurred on his family's land. The ministry initially identified him as Seifeddine Musalat, 23. Musallet's friend, Mohammed al-Shalabi, was shot in the chest, the ministry said. Israel's military has said Palestinians hurled rocks at Israelis in the area on Friday, lightly wounding two people and setting off a larger confrontation. Palestinians and rights groups have long accused the military of ignoring settler violence. Their bodies were carried through the streets on Sunday as mourners waved Palestinian flags and chanted, 'God is great.' Musallet's family has said it wants the U.S. State Department to investigate his death and hold the settlers accountable. The State Department said it had no comment out of respect for the family. Isseid reported from Al-Mazraa a-Sharqiya, West Bank. Associated Press writer Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report. Wafaa Shurafa And Imad Isseid, The Associated Press
CBC
5 hours ago
- CBC
Israeli strike kills children collecting water, Gaza officials say. IDF says there was a malfunction
Social Sharing At least eight Palestinians, most of them children, were killed and more than a dozen others were wounded in central Gaza on Sunday, local officials said, in an Israeli missile strike that the military said missed its intended target. The Israeli military said it had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant in the area but that a malfunction had caused the missile to fall "dozens of metres from the target." "The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians," it said in a statement, adding that the incident was under review. The strike hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six children and injuring 17 others, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al-Awda Hospital. Water shortages in Gaza have worsened sharply in recent weeks, with fuel shortages causing desalination and sanitation facilities to close, making people dependent on collection centres where they can fill up their plastic containers. In another attack, Palestinian media reported that a prominent hospital consultant was among 12 people killed by an Israeli strike mid-morning on a busy market in Gaza City. Gaza's Health Ministry said on Sunday that more than 58,000 people had been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, with 139 people added to the death toll over the past 24 hours. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its tally, but says more than half of those killed are women and children. Talks blocked Talks aimed at securing a ceasefire appeared to be deadlocked, with the two sides divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources said at the weekend. The indirect talks over a U.S. proposal for a 60-day ceasefire were continuing in Doha, but optimism that surfaced last week of a possible deal has largely faded, with both sides accusing each other of intransigence. WATCH | Canadian doctors work in Gaza as fuel shortages threaten lives, hospitals: Canadian doctors work in Gaza as fuel shortages threaten lives, hospitals 2 days ago Duration 2:21 Two Canadian doctors, from Calgary and Montreal, have been treating patients at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza. These doctors and other health officials in the region say severe fuel shortages leave operating rooms without light, oxygen tanks without air and an overall inability to carry out basic medical treatment on patients in critical conditions. The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages there are believed to still be alive. Israel's campaign against Hamas has displaced almost the entire population of more than two million people, but Gazans say nowhere is safe in the coastal enclave. Early on Sunday morning, a missile hit a house in Gaza City where a family had moved to after receiving an evacuation order from their home in the southern outskirts. "My aunt, her husband and the children are gone. What is the fault of the children who died in an ugly bloody massacre at dawn?" said Anas Matar, standing in the rubble of the building.
CTV News
7 hours ago
- CTV News
Syria's massive wildfires brought under control after days of intense battles
Smoke rises from a wildfire in the town of Rabia, in Syria's Latakia countryside, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed) LATAKIA, Syria — Some of Syria's worst wildfires in years have been brought under control as of Sunday, according to the Civil Defense and the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management, following days of grueling firefighting in the forested countryside of the coastal Latakia province. The blazes, which started 10 days ago and swept through the heavily wooded area of several mountain ranges, were fanned by strong winds, scorching summer heat and unexploded ordnance left behind from the country's 13-year civil war. Firefighters faced hazardous conditions with support from aerial teams and engineering units working to open firebreaks in the dense terrain. In a statement, the Civil Defense said the spread of the fire was halted on Sunday morning, following 'extensive efforts by firefighting teams and both helicopter and glider aircraft.' Crews remain on the ground conducting cooling operations and monitoring the area to prevent new flare-ups, it added. More than 15,000 hectares of forest were burned, according to Abed al-Kafi Kayal, a civil defense team leader. 'There are no injuries among residents,' he told The Associated Press. 'Some firefighters were hurt, mostly from slipping, road conditions or the intensity of the flames.' Firefighting helicopters swept low over ridgelines on Saturday, dumping water onto hotspots as ground crews worked below to contain flare-ups. Among the pilots were defectors who had left the Syrian Air Force in 2012 during the uprising against President Bashar Assad. Now, some have rejoined under the new government and are contributing to the emergency effort. Col. Ameen al-Ameen, who returned to service after 14 years, said his team has been flying 'day and night' for 10 consecutive days. 'We are extinguishing fires and doing our duty toward our country and people, who need us after this long period,' he said. By Saturday evening, teams had successfully contained hotspots on all fronts. The civil defense statement praised the 'tremendous efforts' of Syrian firefighters along with Turkish and Arab support teams, and noted that roads and fire lines were being cut through the forest to help prevent future spread. Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management Raed al-Saleh said the firefighting efforts had reached a 'promising stage' by Saturday night. 'The scene is changing, the smoke is clearing and teams continue working intensively to extinguish remaining hotspots,' he said. The United Nations also stepped in to support the emergency response. UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, Adam Abdelmoula, announced on Thursday the allocation of $625,000 from the Syria Humanitarian Fund to assist those affected. Initial UN assessments suggest thousands have been displaced, with significant damage to farmland, infrastructure, and livelihoods in the coastal region. UN agencies said they are coordinating closely with local authorities and stand ready to mobilize further aid if needed. 'The wildfires have had catastrophic consequences on the local communities and require our immediate attention,' said Abdelmoula. He called on international donors to step up, warning that 'timely and flexible funding is critical to saving lives and protecting communities in moments of crisis.' Al-Saleh praised the assistance of firefighting teams from Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Qatar. 'We promise our people that we will not leave until the last spark has been extinguished,' he said. Summer fires are common in the eastern Mediterranean region, where experts warn that climate change is intensifying conditions that lead to blazes. Also, below-average rainfall over the winter left Syrians struggling with water shortages this summer, as the springs and rivers that normally supply much of the population with drinking water have gone dry. Ghaith Alsayed And Sally Abou Aljoud, The Associated Press
