WHO says Israeli military attacked staff residence in Gaza
The United Nations agency said the WHO staff residence was attacked three times, with airstrikes causing a fire and extensive damage, and endangering staff and their families, including children.
Israeli tanks pushed into southern and eastern districts of Deir al-Balah for the first time on Monday, an area where Israeli sources said the military believes hostages may be held. Tank shelling in the area hit houses and mosques, killing at least three Palestinians and wounding several others, local medics said.
"Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward Al-Mawasi amid active conflict. Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot, and screened at gunpoint," WHO said.
Two WHO staff and two family members were detained, it said in a post on X, adding that three were later released, while one staff member remained in detention.
"WHO demands the immediate release of the detained staff and protection of all its staff," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Palestinians flee Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Sunday, July 20, 2025, after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders ahead of expected operations in the area. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Deir al-Balah is packed with Palestinians displaced during more than 21 months of war in Gaza, hundreds of whom fled west or south after Israel issued an evacuation order, saying it sought to destroy infrastructure and capabilities of the militant group Hamas.
WHO said its main warehouse, located within an evacuation zone, was damaged on Sunday due to an attack that triggered explosions and a fire inside.
WHO stated it will remain in Deir al-Balah and expand its operations despite the attacks.
Britain and more than 20 other countries called on Monday for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and criticised the Israeli government's aid delivery model after hundreds of Palestinians were killed near sites distributing food.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 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 over 59,000 Palestinians, according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population, and caused a humanitarian crisis.
The World Health Organization describes the health sector in Gaza as being "on its knees", with shortages of fuel, medical supplies and frequent mass casualty influxes.
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Israeli forces push into parts of a Gaza city that the war had largely spared
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Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Government must stand firm on Israel's illegal occupation and genocide in Gaza Strip
There are moments in history when silence is complicity. There are moments when the scale of violence, suffering, brutality, and horror is so immense that our very humanity is questioned. What we are witnessing in Gaza today is one such horrific moment, a genocide that has resulted in the greatest humanitarian catastrophe witnessed since the Second World War. The haunting images emerging daily from Gaza remind us of stark horrors from the 20th century, horrors that once shocked the world into pledging 'never again'. However, here we are once more. Close to 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, including more than 17,000 innocent children. More than 139,000 have been wounded. Thousands of children have been left orphaned. Israel has made Gaza a graveyard for children, women, men, medical staff, humanitarian workers, and journalists. An entire population is being starved. Famine is occurring directly as a result of Israel's brutal, illegal, and cruel blocking of aid. The UN has described Gaza as the hungriest place on Earth, the only territory on Earth where the whole population is at risk of famine. Israel has obstructed aid to such a degree that only a drip feed gets into the starving and malnourished population. On May 19, the Israeli cabinet approved a decision to allow 'basic' food into Gaza. A drop in an ocean and the conditions imposed by the Israeli authorities continue to prevent the delivery of large-scale humanitarian aid. The near total collapse of Gaza's healthcare system is severely impacting pregnant women, new mothers, and newborns, depriving them of their rights to maternity healthcare Israel is weaponising water, continuing to destroy water facilities, and cutting electricity needed to pump water and power desalination plants. Each day, we get to a point of horror we thought unimaginable. Children bear the brunt of Israel's genocidal actions. Child malnutrition is surging, doubling since March. Just as Israel has ensured the almost collapse of the healthcare system, 90,000 women and children desperately need access to care for acute malnutrition. Some 10 children a day are losing one or both limbs. Israel is maiming a generation. Weaponising humanitarian aid The shameful Israeli and US-controlled Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution point are putting a terrorised population at further risk. It is, it seems, just another way of killing Palestinians, with nearly 900 desperate and hungry Gazans killed trying to access aid. UN entities and humanitarian organisations, including ActionAid, have unanimously rejected the scheme. It violates core humanitarian principles and forces Palestinians into militarised zones to access life-saving assistance. The plan as outlined effectively weaponises humanitarian aid, turning it into a tool of oppression, further entrenching Israeli government control over Gaza, and continuing its long-term displacement and collective punishment of Palestinians there. Now, another dark and horrifying layer may be added to this devastating humanitarian crisis. The Israeli government has reportedly proposed setting up an internment camp in the Gaza Strip, a fenced-in zone under military control where thousands of Palestinians would be corralled under surveillance, stripped of freedom, and essentially imprisoned without trial or rights. This would effectively be a concentration camp, and it rightly has provoked widespread outrage with accusations of ethnic cleansing and violations of international law. Meanwhile in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the situation has reached a breaking point. Palestinian families are being displaced, denied access to essential services, and left unprotected. One year after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territory to be unlawful and ordered its unconditional and rapid withdrawal, Israeli authorities have escalated annexation, settlement expansion, land seizures, and violence, with devastating consequences for Palestinians. From January to June 2025, Israeli settlers carried out an average of four attacks per day, injuring 340 Palestinians, against 148 during the same period in 2024 — a rise of 130%. Over 90% of settler violence complaints are closed without indictment This is the backdrop for the crucial debates that just concluded on the Occupied Territories Bill by the Oireachtas committee on foreign affairs and trade. The proposed bill would be a hugely important, but modest, step in accountability for egregious violations of international law, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. It must include both goods and services. Those opposing the bill say it will violate US federal law, will damage our standing with the US, and will be bad for Irish business. All arguments that have been eloquently debunked in the committee debates. The overwhelming majority of companies here have no involvement at all in the illegal Israeli settlements, just as they're not doing business with Russian entities destroying Ukraine. Economic impact The bill is a modest pressure with no evidence to show that it will have a negative economic impact. Nor does it amount to a boycott of Israel, or a breach of US law, as it only relates to illegal settlements that Israel has taken from Palestinians. The argument that the bill would violate EU law also fell to pieces this week. In the context of a shamefully weak overall response by the EU to its review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, one measure it did put forward was the ability of states to legislate nationally to ban trade with illegal settlements. Regardless of the above, we must take a stand and hold onto humanity for dear life. Ireland must hold its nerve, even in the face of opposition from the US We have obligations under international law. Just like with apartheid South Africa, we must stand against apartheid Israel. Ireland is not isolated in its action. The emergency summit hosted last week by Colombia and South Africa under the Hague Group framework, which was aimed at co-ordinating multilateral legal, diplomatic, and economic measures to halt Israel's military offensive in Gaza, was hugely significant. Delegations from more than 30 countries, as well as UN officials such as special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, attended the summit. A suite of actions on holding Israel to account are now on the table. Ireland — please stay strong. To kill, starve, cage, and erase an entire population is genocide. This is so much more than politics. This is about international law. This is about humanity. Karol Balfe is CEO of ActionAid Ireland and supports the humanitarian response in Gaza through ActionAid Palestine and partners Read More Pope Leo renews call for immediate Gaza ceasefire
Irish Times
9 hours ago
- Irish Times
‘We haven't eaten for five days': Baby boy starves to death in Gaza as hunger spreads, medics say
Six-week-old Yousef's lifeless body lay limp on a hospital table in Gaza City, his skin stretched over protruding ribs and a bandage where a drip had been inserted into his tiny arm. Doctors said the cause of death was starvation. He was among 15 people to starve to death in the last 24 hours in Gaza , according to doctors, who say a wave of hunger that has loomed over the enclave for months is now finally crashing down. Yousef's family couldn't find baby formula to feed him, said his uncle, Adham al-Safadi. READ MORE 'You can't get milk anywhere, and if you do find any it's $100 (€25) for a tub,' he said, looking at his dead nephew. Three of the other Palestinians who died of hunger over the last day were also children, including 13-year-old Abdulhamid al-Ghalban, who died in a hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. Israeli forces have killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians in air strikes, shelling and shooting since launching their assault on Gaza in response to attacks on Israel by the Hamas group that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 hostages captured in October 2023. For the first time since the war began, Palestinian officials say dozens are now also dying of hunger. Gaza has seen its food stocks run out since Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March and then lifted that blockade in May with new measures it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups. At least 101 people are known to have died of hunger during the conflict, according to Palestinian officials, including 80 children, most of them in just the last few weeks. [ Doctors and humanitarian staff fainting from hunger in Gaza, says Unrwa head Opens in new window ] Israel, which controls all supplies entering Gaza, denies that it is responsible for shortages of food. Israel's military said that it 'views the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza as a matter of utmost importance', and works to facilitate its entry in co-ordination with the international community. It has blamed the United Nations for failing to protect aid it says is stolen by Hamas and other militants. The fighters deny stealing it. More than 800 people have been killed in recent weeks trying to reach food, mostly in mass shootings by Israeli soldiers posted near distribution centres of a new, US-backed aid organisation. The United Nations has rejected this system as inherently unsafe and a violation of humanitarian neutrality principles needed to ensure that distribution succeeds. For the first time since the war began, Palestinian officials say dozens are now also dying of hunger. Photograph: AFP/ Getty Images) United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called the situation for the 2.3 million residents of the Palestinian enclave a 'horror show'. 'We are seeing the last gasp of a humanitarian system built on humanitarian principles,' Guterres told the UN Security Council. 'That system is being denied the conditions to function.' The Norwegian Refugee Council, which supported hundreds of thousands of Gazans in the first year of the war, said its aid stocks were now depleted and some of its own staff were starving. 'Our last tent, our last food parcel, our last relief items have been distributed. There is nothing left,' its director Jan Egeland told Reuters. 'Israel is not yielding. They just want to paralyse our work,' he said. The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency said on Tuesday that its staff, as well as doctors and humanitarian workers, were fainting on duty in Gaza due to hunger and exhaustion. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that images of civilians killed during the distribution of aid were 'unbearable' and urged Israel to deliver on pledges to improve the situation. On Tuesday, men and boys lugged sacks of flour past destroyed buildings and tarpaulins in Gaza City, grabbing what food they could from aid warehouses. 'We haven't eaten for five days,' said Mohammed Jundia. Israeli military statistics showed on Tuesday that an average of 146 trucks of aid per day had entered Gaza over the course of the war. The United States has said a minimum of 600 trucks per day are needed to feed Gaza's population. 'Hospitals are already overwhelmed by the number of casualties from gunfire. They can't provide much more help for hunger-related symptoms because of food and medicine shortages,' said Khalil al-Deqran, a spokesperson for the a spokesperson for the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. Deqran said some 600,000 people were suffering from malnutrition, including at least 60,000 pregnant women. Symptoms among those going hungry include dehydration and anaemia, he said. Baby formula in particular is in critically short supply, according to aid groups, doctors and residents. Gaza's health ministry said at least 72 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes in the past 24 hours, including 16 people living in tents in Gaza City. The Israeli military said it wasn't aware of any incident or artillery in the area at that time. Meanwhile, Israel is reported to have refused to renew the visa of a senior UN official who oversees humanitarian affairs in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, further straining tense ties between the government of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the organisation. The UN official, Jonathan Whittall, will not be allowed to continue working in the country, foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar said. Mr Whittall is the acting head of the local branch of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which plays a big role in managing the entry of desperately needed aid into Gaza. 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Irish Examiner
13 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Fifteen Palestinians, including six-week-old infant, die of starvation in Gaza in 24 hours
A six-week-old infant was among 15 people who have died of starvation in Gaza in the past 24 hours, local health officials said, with malnutrition now killing Palestinians faster than at any point in the 21-month war. The infant died at a hospital ward in northern Gaza, the health officials said, naming him as Yousef al-Safadi. Three of the others were also children, including 13-year-old Abdulhamid al-Ghalban, who died in a hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. The other two children were not named. Palestinian health officials say at least 101 people have died of hunger during the conflict, including 80 children, with most of them in recent weeks. Israel controls all aid supplies into the war-ravaged enclave, where most of the population has been displaced multiple times and faces acute shortages of basic necessities. The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency said on Tuesday that its staff, as well as doctors and humanitarian workers, were fainting on duty in Gaza due to hunger and exhaustion. "No one is spared: caretakers in Gaza are also in need of care. Doctors, nurses, journalists and humanitarians are hungry," UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement. There has been international condemnation of mass killings of civilians and dire shortages of aid in Gaza, but no action that has yet stopped the conflict, or significantly increased supplies. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that images of civilians killed during the distribution of aid were "unbearable" and urged Israel to deliver on pledges to improve the situation, but did not say what action European countries would take. Israel's military said that it "views the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza as a matter of utmost importance", and works to facilitate its entry in coordination with the international community. It has denied accusations it is preventing aid from reaching Gaza and has accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of stealing food, an allegation Hamas denies. "Hospitals are already overwhelmed by the number of casualties from gunfire. They can't provide much more help for hunger-related symptoms because of food and medicine shortages," said Khalil al-Deqran, a spokesperson for the health ministry. Deqran said some 600,000 people were suffering from malnutrition, including at least 60,000 pregnant women. Symptoms among those going hungry include dehydration and anaemia, he said. Baby formula in particular is in critically short supply, according to aid groups, doctors and residents. Israel says its assault on Gaza aims to destroy Hamas, which waged the deadliest attack in Israel's history on October 7, 2023, killing at least 1,200 Israelis including civilians, by its tallies. Israeli bombs and gunfire have killed nearly 60,000 people in Gaza since then, according to local health authorities. Tank shelling killed another 16 people living in tents in Gaza City on Tuesday, as Israeli troops launched attacks across the strip, health officials said. The Israeli military said it wasn't aware of any incident, or artillery in the area at that time. The health ministry said at least 72 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes in the past 24 hours. Food gathering a deadly task Daily food gathering has become a deadly task for Gazans, with UNRWA estimating that more than 1,000 people have died while trying to receive food aid since May. On Tuesday, men and boys lugged sacks of flour past destroyed buildings and tarpaulins in Gaza City, grabbing what food they could from aid warehouses. "We haven't eaten for five days," said Mohammed Jundia. "Famine is killing people." Israeli military statistics showed on Tuesday that an average of 146 trucks of aid per day had entered Gaza over the course of the war. The United States has said a minimum of 600 trucks per day are needed to feed Gaza's population. Twenty-five Western countries, which have backed Israel's war against Hamas, issued a statement on Monday condemning Israel over the "inhuman killing" of civilians in Gaza, but there was no indication that further action would be taken against Israel. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the Israeli military "must stop killing people at distribution points," and that "all options" were on the table if Israel didn't expand humanitarian access, but did not say what those options included. The EU remains divided over how hard a line to take. Germany refrained from signing the statement, which Israel dismissed as "disconnected from reality", saying Hamas was shooting civilians at aid distribution points. It provided no evidence for the claim. 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. Reuters Read More At least 20 dead following latest Israel strikes on Gaza
