Israeli strike on aid point kills 26 in Rafah, Hamas-affiliated media say
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the reported strike.
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South Wales Argus
6 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
More than 80 killed trying to reach aid in Gaza, health ministry says
The development represents the deadliest day yet for people seeking aid in more than 21 months of war. And there was new alarm as Israel's military issued evacuation orders for areas of central Gaza, one of the few areas where it has rarely operated with ground troops and where many international organisations attempting to distribute aid are located. One aid group said several groups' offices were told to evacuate immediately. Palestinians carried sacks of humanitarian aid unloaded from trucks headed to Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday (Jehad Alshrafi/AP) The largest toll was in northern Gaza, where at least 79 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach aid entering through the Zikim crossing with Israel, according to the health ministry and local hospitals. The UN World Food Programme said 25 trucks with aid had entered for 'starving communities' when it encountered massive crowds that came under gunfire. A UN official said Israeli forces opened fire towards the crowds who tried to take food from the convoy. Footage taken by the UN and shared with the Associated Press showed Palestinian men running as the sound of automatic gunfire could be heard. 'Suddenly, tanks surrounded us and trapped us as gunshots and strikes rained down. We were trapped for around two hours,' Ehab Al-Zei, who had been waiting for flour, said. 'I will never go back again. Let us die of hunger, it's better.' Palestinians reacted after carrying the bodies of those killed while trying to reach aid trucks entering northern Gaza through the Zikim crossing with Israel on Sunday (Jehad Alshrafi/AP) Nafiz Al-Najjar, who was injured, said tanks and drones targeted people 'randomly' and he saw his cousin and others shot dead. Israel's military said soldiers had shot at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza who posed a threat, and it was aware of some casualties. But it said the numbers reported by officials in Gaza were far higher than its initial investigation found. The military said it was attempting to facilitate the entry of aid, and accused Hamas militants of creating chaos and endangering civilians. More than 150 people were wounded overall, with some in critical condition, hospitals said. Separately, seven Palestinians were killed while sheltering in tents in Khan Younis in the south, including a five-year-old boy, according to the Kuwait Specialised Field Hospital, which received the casualties. The killings in northern Gaza did not take place near aid distribution points associated with the recently created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US and Israel-backed group. Naem Ahmed's family hugged the last bag of WFP wheat flour they received – a small celebration amid desperate conditions. Everyone in #Gaza is hungry. It's time to flood the Strip with food and reach ALL families, everywhere – safely and without interruption. — World Food Programme (@WFP) July 19, 2025 Witnesses and health workers say hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli fire while trying to access the group's aid distribution sites. The new evacuation orders cut access between the central city of Deir al-Balah and the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in the narrow territory. The military also reiterated evacuation orders for northern Gaza. The United Nations has been in contact with Israeli authorities to clarify whether UN facilities in the southwestern part of Deir al-Balah are included in the evacuation order, according to a UN official. The official said that in previous instances, UN facilities were spared from evacuation orders. The latest order covers an area stretching from a previously evacuated area all the way to the Mediterranean coast and will severely hamper movement for aid groups and civilians in Gaza. The Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) group said in a statement that several humanitarian organisations' offices and guesthouses had been 'ordered to evacuate immediately' and nine clinics, including the MAP one, had been forced to shut down. Military spokesman Avichay Adraee called for people to head to the Muwasi area, a desolate tent camp on Gaza's southern coast that Israel's military has designated a humanitarian zone. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said repeatedly that expanding Israel's military operations in Gaza would pressure Hamas in negotiations (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) The announcement came as Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar, but international mediators say there have been no breakthroughs. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly asserted that expanding Israel's military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas in negotiations. Earlier this month, Israel's military said it controlled more than 65% of Gaza. Gaza's population of more than two million Palestinians are in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, now relying largely on the limited aid allowed into the territory. Many people have been displaced multiple times. Hamas triggered the war when militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Fifty remain in Gaza, but fewer than half are thought to be alive. Israel's military offensive has killed more than 58,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not say how many militants have been killed but says more than half of the dead have been women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government, but the UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
The Guardian
24 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Pope condemns Gaza war's ‘barbarity' as 73 reported killed while waiting for food
Pope Leo XIV has condemned the 'barbarity' of the war in Gaza and the 'indiscriminate use of force' as Gaza's health ministry said at least 73 Palestinians had been killed queueing for food. The ministry said on Sunday that the victims had been killed in different locations, mostly in northern Gaza. It said 67 of the dead had been killed by Israeli fire while waiting for UN aid trucks entering through the northern Zikim crossing with Israel. The UN World Food Programme said that shortly after entering Gaza, a WFP convoy of 25 trucks carrying food aid encountered 'massive crowds of hungry civilians' who then came under gunfire. 'WFP reiterates that any violence involving civilians seeking humanitarian aid is completely unacceptable,' it said in a statement. The director of al-Shifa hospital, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, told Associated Press that since Sunday morning the hospital had received 48 people who were killed and 150 wounded while seeking aid from lorries expected to enter Gaza at the Zikim crossing. He could not say whether the dead had been killed by the Israeli army, armed gangs or both. Israel's military said soldiers had shot at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza who it claimed posed a threat, and it was aware of some casualties. But it said the numbers reported by officials in Gaza were far higher than its initial investigation found. It did not immediately comment on the incident in the south. There was new alarm as Israel's military issued evacuation orders for areas of central Gaza, one of the few areas where it has rarely operated with ground troops and where many international organisations attempting to distribute aid are located. In central Deir al-Balah, residents said Israeli planes struck three houses in the area and dozens of families began leaving their homes, carrying some of their belongings, Reuters reported. Before these reports emerged, the pope called for 'an immediate end to the barbarity of the war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict' at the end of the Angelus prayer at Castel Gandolfo, his summer residence near Rome. The pope also spoke of his anguish over the Israeli strike on Gaza's only Catholic church last week, which killed three people and injured 10. Among the injured was the parish priest, who used to receive daily calls from the late Pope Francis. Israel has expressed 'deep sorrow' and opened an investigation into the strike on the church, which was sheltering about 600 displaced people, most of them children and many with special needs. 'This act, unfortunately, adds to the ongoing military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza,' the pope said on Sunday. 'I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations.' On Sunday the UN's agency for Palestinians, Unrwa, said Israeli authorities were 'starving civilians in Gaza', including 1 million children. 'Unrwa has enough food for the entire population of Gaza for over three months stockpiled in warehouses,' it said in an earlier social media post that included photos of a warehouse in Arish, Egypt. 'Open the gates, lift the siege, allow Unrwa to do its work and help people in need among them 1 million children,' the agency said. Unrwa said last week that babies were dying from 'severe acute malnutrition'. Israel banned all cooperation with Unrwa in Gaza and the West Bank, accusing the agency of having been infiltrated by Hamas, although an independent review found Tel Aviv had failed to provide evidence of its claims that Unrwa employees were members of terrorist organisations. The agency had been the main distributor of aid in Gaza and provider of basic services, including health and education, to Palestinians across the region. Since May aid has been largely distributed by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in place of the traditional UN-led system. Food has become scarce, and very expensive, since Israel imposed a blockade on 2 March. The UN has said that as of 13 July, 875 people had been killed in recent weeks trying to get food, including 674 in the vicinity of GHF sites. The remaining 201 victims were killed on the routes or close to aid convoys run by the UN or its partners. Children have been killed fetching water for their families. Meanwhile, the Israeli military issued evacuation orders on Sunday in areas of central Gaza packed with displaced Palestinians, a sign of an imminent attack on neighbourhoods in Deir al-Balah, which has alarmed the families of Israeli hostages, who fear their relatives are being held there. 'Can anyone [promise] to us that this decision will not come at the cost of losing our loved ones?' the families said in a statement. The Israeli military dropped leaflets from the sky ordering people in several districts in south-west Deir al-Balah, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza have been sheltering, to leave their homes and head south. 'The [Israel] Defense Forces continues to operate with great force to destroy the enemy's capabilities and terrorist infrastructure in the area,' the military said. Israel's forces have not yet entered these districts during the current conflict because they suspect that Hamas may be holding hostages there. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in captivity in Gaza are believed still to be alive. The war was triggered by Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage. At least 58,895 Palestinians have been killed and 140,980 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said on Sunday.
The National
35 minutes ago
- The National
At least 73 Palestinians killed whilst accessing aid in Gaza
It was one of the deadliest days in over 21 months of Israel's genocide in Gaza, as civilians were targeted whilst trying to access food and medical relief. Reports from AP say the highest death toll came in northern Gaza, where 67 people were killed near the Zikim crossing with Israel as aid trucks had just arrived. READ MORE: 'Israel killed my brother. My boycott app in his memory now has 11 million users' According to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), 25 trucks carrying supplies for 'starving communities' entered the area but were met by large crowds that came under gunfire. The WFP condemned the violence as 'completely unacceptable.' Eyewitnesses accused the Israeli military of opening fire on the crowds. Ehab Al-Zei, who had been waiting for flour, told AP: 'Suddenly, tanks surrounded us and trapped us as gunshots and strikes rained down. We were trapped for around two hours.' 'I will never go back again,' he added. 'Let us die of hunger, it's better.' Another survivor, Nafiz Al-Najjar, said tanks and drones targeted civilians 'randomly,' and that he witnessed his cousin and others being shot dead. Israel's military claimed the crowd posed a threat and acknowledged some casualties, but dismissed the numbers reported by Palestinian officials as exaggerated. Medical teams said more than 150 people were injured, many of them in critical condition. READ MORE: 'Beyond shameful': Harvie urges SNP to explain secret talks with Israeli diplomat Elsewhere, seven Palestinians were killed while sheltering in tents in Khan Younis, including a five-year-old boy, according to the Kuwait Specialised Field Hospital. The killings in northern Gaza did not take place near aid points operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – a US- and Israel-backed project. However, health workers and witnesses say hundreds have been killed trying to access aid from that same network. On the same day, Israel issued new evacuation orders in central Gaza, cutting off access between Deir al-Balah and the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis. The United Nations is seeking clarification on whether its facilities in the area are included in the order. An unnamed UN official noted that in past cases, UN facilities had been spared, but the scale of the current evacuation zone – which stretches to the Mediterranean coast – will severely limit humanitarian access. Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee urged people to flee to the Muwasi area – a desolate tent camp with no basic infrastructure, now overcrowded with displaced families. The announcement came as ceasefire talks in Qatar failed to produce progress. READ MORE: When 'critical friends' fall out: Angus Robertson's Israel meeting details revealed Pope Leo has since renewed calls for an end to the violence. At the end of his Sunday Angelus prayer from a summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo, he said: 'I once again call for an immediate end to the barbarity of this war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.' He also expressed his 'deep sorrow' for the Israeli attack on the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, which killed three people and wounded 10 others, including the parish priest. 'I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations,' the Pope added. Earlier this month, the Israeli military claimed it had taken control of more than 65% of Gaza. More than 58,800 Palestinians have been killed since the genocide began. Gaza's 2.3 million residents are now facing full-scale famine, displacement, and relentless bombardment, with aid barely trickling in
