Gaza: UNICEF Mourns Seven Children Killed Queuing For Water
The incident occurred in central Gaza on Sunday, according to media reports, which said that four other people also lost their lives due to the Israeli airstrike.
The Israeli military said it had been targeting a terrorist but a 'technical error' saw the munition stray off course.
Uphold protection of children
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell noted that the incident came just days after several women and children were killed while lining up for nutritional supplies.
' The Israeli authorities must urgently review the rules of engagement and ensure full compliance with international humanitarian law, notably the protection of civilians, including children,' she wrote in a statement posted on X.
The UN has repeatedly deplored the killing of Palestinians seeking food aid amid the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where food security experts have warned that the entire population, some 2.1 million people, is not getting enough to eat.
The risk of famine remains, according to UNICEF. In June, more than 5,800 children were diagnosed with malnutrition, including more than 1,000 children with severe acute malnutrition, representing an increase for the fourth consecutive month.
Stockpiles of food available
Meanwhile, 'truckloads of food and medical supplies are waiting in warehouses' just outside the enclave, UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA said in a tweet.
It included a quote from one of its health workers who said that 'in the past, I only saw such cases of malnutrition in textbooks and documentaries. Today, I am treating them face to face in the health centre.'
UNRWA appealed for starvation of civilians to stop and for the siege to be lifted.
' Let the UN, including UNRWA, do its lifesaving work,' the tweet said.
The small quantities of aid and critical supplies that have entered Gaza so far are nowhere near enough to meet the immense needs, the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said later on Monday.
It called for Israel to allow the urgent entry of aid at scale through all possible routes and corridors.
Healthcare under attack
OCHA said health teams continue to suffer some of the worst impacts of the hostilities, with the Ministry of Health reporting on Sunday that another doctor had been killed over the previous 24 hours.
Although the health system has been decimated and is on the brink of collapse, hospitals continue to respond to mass casualty incidents as much as they can.
The Israeli authorities have continued to issue displacement orders amid the ongoing hostilities and destruction, the agency added.
On Friday, a displacement order was put out for the Rimal area of Gaza city where some 70,000 people were staying at a dozen displacement sites.
Today, more than 86 per cent of Gaza's territory is either under displacement orders or located within the Israeli-militarized zone.
West Bank annexation 'well underway'
Separately, UNRWA also highlighted the situation of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank against the backdrop of the war in Gaza.
Agency chief Philippe Lazzarini told an international conference in Switzerland on Monday that 'annexation is well underway.'
UNRWA said 'this is not just destruction: it is part of systematic forced displacement, a violation of international law, and a form of collective punishment.'
In January, Israeli forces launched operations in Tulkarm and Jenin in the West Bank, which UNRWA has previously said are the most extensive in two decades.
Humanitarians reported last week that the operations are causing massive destruction and displacement while attacks by Israeli settlers have intensified.
The high levels of violence continue, with OCHA reporting that two Palestinian men, one of whom was a US national, were killed near Ramallah on Friday during a settler attack.
Overall, more than 700 settler attacks have been recorded in the West Bank during the first half of this year. Over 200 communities have been affected, primarily in Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron governorates.
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RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Four-year-old girl dies of hunger in Gaza as Israel throttles food supply
By Ibrahim Dahman, Tim Lister, Abeer Salman, Eyad Kourdi and Mohammad Al Sawalhi , CNN Razan Abu Zaher's shrouded body is carried after she died from malnutrition. Photo: CNN via CNN Newsource Four-year old Razan Abu Zaher lost her fight for life on Sunday. She died at a hospital in central Gaza from complications brought on by hunger and malnutrition, according to a medical source. Her skeletal body was laid out on a slab of stone. At least 76 children in Gaza have died of malnutrition since the conflict began in October 2023, as well as ten adults, the Palestinian health ministry says. According to the World Health Organization, most of these occurred since Israeli authorities imposed a blockade at the beginning of March. Razan was one of at least four children to succumb in the last three days, the youngest just three months. Over the past 24 hours, 18 deaths have been recorded due to famine in Gaza, the health ministry says, reflecting a deepening crisis in the territory. CNN first met Razan a month ago. She was already weak with hunger and pitifully thin. Her mother, Tahrir Abu Daher, said then that she had no money to buy milk, which was in any case rarely available. "Her health was very good before the war, but after the war, her condition began to deteriorate due to malnutrition. There is nothing to strengthen her." That was on 23 June. Razan had already been in hospital for 12 days. She clung on to life for another 27 days. Razan died amid growing starvation in Gaza, with the flow of humanitarian aid severely reduced since the beginning of March, when Israeli authorities banned convoys from entering Gaza. That ban was partially lifted at the end of May, but aid agencies say the amounts reaching the territory are too little to sustain the population. Israel said it was halting shipments of aid into Gaza because Hamas was stealing and profiting from it - an allegation Hamas denies. Israeli agencies also say the United Nations has not picked up aid ready to move into Gaza. The UN in turn has said that Israeli forces frequently deny permission to move aid within Gaza, and that much more is waiting to be allowed in. The Israeli agency that manages the flow of aid into the Gaza strip, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), said in a statement that the IDF is "working to allow and facilitate the transfer" of humanitarian aid, including food. "Since the beginning of the hostilities and up to this day, approximately 67,000 food trucks have entered the Gaza Strip, delivering around 1.5 million tons of food," COGAT said. "Israel will continue to facilitate the entry of food" into Gaza, COGAT said, "while taking all possible measures to prevent the terrorist organization Hamas from seizing the aid." Razan Abu Zaher pictured in hospital on 23 June. Photo: CNN via CNN Newsource Gaza was heavily dependent on aid and commercial shipments of food before the conflict began in October 2023, and shortages of food, medical supplies, fuel and other necessities have only worsened since. The scarcity of food since March has sent a rapidly growing number of people to already overwhelmed hospitals. "Gaza is witnessing the worst phase of famine, which has reached catastrophic levels amid unprecedented international silence," said Dr. Khalil Al-Daqran, the spokesman for al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital on Sunday, where Razan died. Al-Daqran said the infants who were now dying had been robbed of their childhood twice, "once by bombing and killing, and again by depriving them of milk and a piece of bread." The health ministry said Saturday that an "unprecedented number of starving citizens of all ages are arriving at emergency departments in severe states of exhaustion and fatigue". "Hundreds whose bodies have been severely weakened are now at risk of imminent death due to hunger and their bodies' inability to endure any longer," the ministry added. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights - an NGO working in Gaza - reported Sunday that one of its team in Gaza had said: "Our faces have changed and our bodies have wasted away. We no longer recognize each other from extreme emaciation, as if we are slowly fading away and dying." Palestinian children queue for a portion of hot food distributed by a charity kitchen at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on July 15. Photo: Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource Dr. Suhaib Al-Hams, director of Kuwait field hospital in Khan Younis, told CNN that people arriving there were in "dire need of food before medicine, as their bodies have reached a point beyond endurance and are all at risk of death". "Today, the World Central Kitchen stopped sending meals for the medical staff, they used to send us only rice. Doctors are working 24 hours a day with no food, neither at home nor at the hospital. People are dying of hunger," Al-Hams said Sunday. World Central Kitchen confirmed its Gaza teams had run out of ingredients to cook warm meals. "We served 80,000 meals yesterday [Saturday], emptying the last of our replenished stocks while aid trucks remain stuck at the border. "This is the second time lack of access to aid has forced our kitchen operations to pause," it added. In their desperation, thousands of people risk their lives every day to find something to eat. More than 70 people were reported to have been killed Sunday in Gaza as they desperately sought food aid, according to the health ministry, which said they had been shot by Israeli troops. The Israel Defense Forces said troops in the area "fired warning shots in order to remove an immediate threat posed to them. The IDF is aware of the claim regarding casualties in the area, and the details of the incident are still being examined". "An initial review suggests that the number of casualties reported does not align with the information held by the IDF," it added. Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Hospital where many of the casualties were taken, said that "a significant number of civilians, and even medical staff, are arriving in a state of fainting or collapse due to severe malnutrition". Nearly 800 Palestinians were killed while trying to access aid in Gaza between late May and 7 July, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). During that period, OHCHR recorded the killings of 798 people, 615 of whom were killed near sites of the controversial US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). It added that 183 others were killed "on the routes of aid convoys" without giving details on who had been running those convoys. Dozens more have been killed since, according to the health ministry, including more than 30 in southern Gaza on Saturday. Tom Fletcher, the UN Emergency Relief coordinator, told the UN Security Council on Thursday that food was running out in Gaza. "Those seeking it risk being shot. People are dying trying to feed their families." He said that starvation rates among children had reached their highest levels in June, with more than 5800 girls and boys diagnosed as acutely malnourished. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday it was receiving "deeply troubling reports of malnourished children and adults being admitted to hospitals with little resources available to treat them properly". On Saturday, Sarmad Tamimy, a plastic surgeon volunteering with Medical Aid for Palestinians, told CNN: "Honestly, I feel the lucky ones get killed immediately because [of] the horrible horrors that they're going to face with their extensive injuries, with inadequate nutrition, inadequate medical supplies, infections, maggots, [and] hospital-acquired infections." - CNN
NZ Herald
11 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Violence keeps occurring near Gaza aid sites with Israeli soldiers opening fire on crowds of hungry Palestinians
Since then, thousands of desperate Palestinians have come to its four aid sites early each morning hoping to obtain food. About 700 people have been killed while trying to get aid from those sites, according to data provided last week by the United Nations. Eyewitnesses and Gaza health officials have repeatedly accused Israeli forces of shooting into crowds. The shooting today took place near a border crossing, not outside one of the aid group's new sites, but both episodes highlighted the extreme danger Gaza residents are facing as Israel tries to replace the system for distributing food in the war-torn enclave. Israel has faced widespread international condemnation for restricting aid to the two million people in Gaza, bringing the enclave to the brink of famine. Here is what to know about the situation: What happened this weekend? The Israeli military said that soldiers had fired 'warning shots' after crowds of thousands had gathered in northern Gaza to 'remove an immediate threat posed to them'. It said that the number of reported casualties did not 'align' with its initial review. More than 60 people were killed in the incident near the Zikim crossing between Gaza and Israel, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Mohammad Abu Salmiya, the director of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. A field hospital operated by the Palestine Red Crescent Society in northern Gaza was flooded with gunshot victims, including two dead and more than 100 wounded, said Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Red Crescent Society. The deaths in northern Gaza followed violence near an aid distribution site in Rafah, in the south of the enclave. The Israeli military said in a statement that troops about 915m from an aid site had fired 'warning shots' in the morning, before the hub opened, as people approached them and did not comply with an order to halt. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said there were 'no incidents at or near any of our aid distribution sites today'. But it acknowledged that deadly violence had 'occurred hours before our sites opened'. Though the foundation has told civilians to avoid the sites before they open, many people often head to the locations early, sometimes walking for hours to get there, because food is so scarce in Gaza and the aid runs out quickly. 'This has become my terrifying daily routine,' said Luay Abu Oda, 24, who described in an interview how he had survived the violence yesterday. 'I dropped to the ground and pretended to be dead just to survive. I couldn't even reach for my phone to check the time.' What is the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation? The group, which was conceived by Israel and has diplomatic and financial support from the US, is staffed by American private contractors with Israeli troops positioned nearby as guards. Israeli officials have said that the foundation was established to allow aid delivery that does not benefit Hamas, accusing the group of systematically seizing humanitarian assistance and restricting supplies for ordinary Gaza residents. Human rights organisations say the new foundation's approach flies in the face of internationally established methods to protect people in need. Its 'militarised model, coupled with its close collaboration with Israeli authorities, undermines the core humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence', 15 rights groups from various countries said in a statement last month. At a United Nations Security Council meeting this month called by Britain, Denmark, France, Greece, and Slovenia to address the alarm about the situation in Gaza, the US defended the new system and accused aid groups that have rejected it of shirking their duty. What happened previously? There have been several deadly incidents at and near the new aid sites. Witnesses have repeatedly reported that Israeli troops have opened fire on people near the new hubs. The Israeli military has said that it had fired 'warning shots' when people approached soldiers. — Earlier in July, at least 20 people died in a stampede near an aid distribution centre, and an Israeli airstrike near a health clinic run by an American aid group killed more than a dozen people, according to Palestinian and aid officials. — In June, more than 100 Palestinians seeking aid were killed by Israeli troops in at least four violent incidents, according to Gaza health officials. Is any other aid getting into Gaza? In a separate aid effort that has also become engulfed in chaos, the UN and other international organisations have been delivering a trickle of food handouts to northern Gaza. Desperate crowds have been ransacking trucks carrying flour and other goods minutes after they enter the enclave, according to witnesses. UN officials say that distribution to warehouses and bakeries inside Gaza has been hampered by the lack of secure routes, and that negligible quantities of food are reaching the people who need it. Tom Fletcher, who leads the UN humanitarian agency, said at the UN Security Council meeting about the dire situation in Gaza that assistance entering the enclave was 'a drop in the ocean of needs' for civilians. 'Gaza's soaring humanitarian needs must be met without drawing people into a firing line,' he said. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Written by: Aaron Boxerman, Ephrat Livni and Rawan Sheikh Ahmad © 2025 THE NEW YORK TIMES
Scoop
18 hours ago
- Scoop
Humanitarians Report More Deaths, Displacement And Desperation In Gaza
18 July 2025 'Every day brings more preventable deaths, displacement and desperation,' the agency said in a humanitarian update. On Friday, Israeli authorities issued another displacement order, this time for parts of North Gaza. OCHA said it continues to receive deeply troubling reports of malnourished children and adults being admitted to hospitals with insufficient resources available to treat them. Fuel crisis deepens The energy crisis in Gaza is also deepening, despite the resumption of limited fuel imports as the quantities that are entering – while critical for continuity – 'remain at lower levels than what we were previously able to extract from dwindling internal reserves, which have now been fully depleted'. The situation has forced solid waste collection to be paused in recent days, and additional wells have had to shut down, particularly in Deir Al-Balah. 'While specific health services, including dialysis, have reduced or shut down, others could go on for a few more days before they too will have to go dark,' OCHA warned. 'With every day that passes, people have less clean water and healthcare and more sewage flooding ground floors.' Since the limited entry of fuel entry supplies resumed on 9 July, the UN has managed to send just over 600,000 litres of diesel to Kerem Shalom. On Thursday, it was able to send 35,000 litres of much-needed benzene for the first time. OCHA said these volumes are limited because Israel has allowed only 14 trucks over the past week. The agency stressed that to maintain lifesaving operations, hundreds of thousands of litres of fuel are needed every day. The limited fuel currently entering is primarily allocated to health, water and communications services as well as to power vehicles. Humanitarian movements curtailed Humanitarian movements inside Gaza also continue to be restricted. On Thursday, seven out of 13 attempts to coordinate the movement of aid workers and supplies with the Israeli authorities were facilitated. Teams were able to retrieve some fuel, collect some water, relocate generators, provide supplies related to hygiene and sanitation and transfer much-needed medical supplies. The six remaining attempts were either outright denied or approved initially, but then faced obstacles on the ground. End international media ban Meanwhile, the head of the UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA called on Friday for the ban on international media entering Gaza to be lifted. '650 days of atrocities against civilians with no international media allowed in,' Philippe Lazzarini wrote in social media post, adding that over 200 Palestinian journalists have been killed during this time. 'Media ban fuels dis-information campaigns questioning first-hand data and accounts from eyewitnesses and international humanitarian organizations,' he said.
