
Israeli fire kills 30 in Gaza, medics say, as attention shifts to Iran
The deaths included the latest in near daily killings of Palestinians seeking aid in the three weeks since Israel partially lifted a total blockade on Gaza that it had imposed for almost three months.
Medics said separate airstrikes on homes in the Maghazi refugee camp and Zeitoun neighbourhood in central and northern Gaza killed at least 14 people, while five others were killed in an airstrike on a tent encampment in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Eleven others were killed in Israeli fire at crowds of displaced Palestinians awaiting aid trucks brought in by the United Nations along the Salahuddin road in central Gaza, medics said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was looking into the reported deaths of people waiting for food. Regarding the other strikes, it said it was "operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities" and "feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm."
On Tuesday, Gaza's health ministry said 397 Palestinians among those trying to get food aid had been killed and more than 3,000 wounded since aid deliveries restarted in late May.
Some in Gaza expressed concern that the latest escalations in the war between Israel and Hamas that began in October 2023 would be overlooked as the focus moved to Israel's five-day-old conflict with Iran.
"People are being slaughtered in Gaza, day and night, but attention has shifted to the Iran-Israel war. There is little news about Gaza these days," said Adel, a resident of Gaza City.
"Whoever doesn't die from Israeli bombs dies from hunger. People risk their lives every day to get food, and they also get killed and their blood smears the sacks of flour they thought they had won," he told Reuters via a chat app.
Israel has been channelling much of the aid it is now allowing into Gaza through a new U.S.- and Israeli-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces.
It has said it will continue to allow aid into Gaza, home to more than 2 million people, while ensuring aid doesn't get into the hands of Hamas. Hamas denies seizing aid, saying Israel uses hunger as a weapon against the population in Gaza.
The Gaza war was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli allies.
U.S. ally Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, displaced almost all the territory's residents, and caused a severe hunger crisis.
The assault has led to accusations of genocide and war crimes, which Israel denies.
Palestinians in Gaza have been closely following Israel's air war with Iran, long a major supporter of Hamas.
"We are maybe happy to see Israel suffer from Iranian rockets, but at the end of the day, one more day in this war costs the lives of tens of innocent people," said 47-year-old Shaban Abed, a father of five from northern Gaza.
"We just hope that a comprehensive solution could be reached to end the war in Gaza, too. We are being forgotten," he said.

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The Guardian
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7 hours ago
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Britain is working with Jordan to airdrop aid into Gaza and evacuate children needing medical assistance, with military planners deployed for further support. However, the head of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency has warned that such efforts are 'a distraction' that will fail to properly address deepening starvation in the strip, and could in some cases harm civilians. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said: 'A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will. 'Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need.' On Sunday, Israel announced military pauses to enable the 'safe movement' of food and medicine to Gaza via designated UN convoys amid mounting international alarm at humanitarian conditions in the strip. Images emerging from Gaza in recent days of emaciated children have seen the country's government criticised for its conduct during the 21-month war. 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Mr Murray said on Sunday: 'As a Government, we're committed to the recognition of Palestine, but we need to work with international partners and we need to use that moment to galvanise change. 'It needs to be part of a pathway to peace.' He added: '140 countries have already recognised Palestine. 'The suffering is still continuing.' Sir Keir and Mr Trump, who is in South Ayrshire on a private visit to his Turnberry golf course, are expected to meet on Monday.