36 killed amid Israeli strikes in Gaza as some aid restrictions eased
Israel announced on Sunday that the military would pause operations in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Muwasi for 10 hours a day until further notice to allow for the improved flow of aid to Palestinians in Gaza, where concern over hunger has grown, and designate secure routes for aid delivery.
Israel said it would continue military operations alongside the new humanitarian measures.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment about the latest strikes, which occurred outside the time frame for the pause Israel declared would be held between 10am and 8pm local time.
Aid agencies have welcomed the new aid measures, which also included allowing airdrops into Gaza, but said they were not enough to counter the rising hunger in the Palestinian territory.
Images of emaciated children have sparked outrage around the world, including from Israel's close allies.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday called the images of emaciated and malnourished children in Gaza 'terrible'.
Israel has restricted aid to varying degrees throughout the war.
In March, it cut off the entry of all goods, including fuel, food and medicine to pressure Hamas to free hostages.
Israel partially lifted those restrictions in May but also pushed ahead on a new US-backed aid delivery system that has been wracked by chaos and violence.
Traditional aid providers have also encountered a similar breakdown in law and order surrounding their aid deliveries.
Most of Gaza's population now relies on aid.
Accessing food has become a challenge that some Palestinians have risked their lives for.
The Awda hospital in central Gaza said it received the bodies of seven Palestinians who it said were killed on Monday by Israeli fire close to an aid distribution site run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
The hospital said 20 others were wounded close to the site.
The GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The pregnant woman and her child were killed along with 11 others after their house was struck in the Muwasi area, west of the southern city of Khan Younis, according to a hospital run by the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Another strike hit a two-storey house in the western Japanese neighbourhood of Khan Younis, killing at least 11 people, more than half of them women and children, said the Nasser Hospital, which received the casualties.
At least five others were killed in strikes elsewhere in Gaza, according to local hospitals.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on most of the strikes.
It said it was not aware of one strike in Gaza City during the pause that health officials said killed one person.
In its October 7 2023 attack, Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
It still holds 50, more than half of whom Israel believes to be dead.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 59,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Its count does not distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says more than half of the dead are women and children.
The ministry operates under the Hamas government.
The UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
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Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Doctors reveal the simple lifestyle changes that could prevent dementia in largest study of its kind
Simple lifestyle changes could be the key to staving off early warning signs of dementia, a major study revealed. Researchers at the world's largest dementia conference this week unveiled the findings of the US POINTER Study, the country's most comprehensive study on lifestyle interventions on Alzheimer's disease. The team of nearly three dozen US researchers looked at more than 2,000 older Americans, all of whom had a family history of dementia or known risk factors like high blood pressure and obesity. They were divided into two groups and asked to either follow a strict diet or exercise regimen, establish a support group or social circle for two years or pick their own habits to change. Measures included implementing aerobic exercise like walking and biking, following a Mediterranean-style diet and doing brain-training exercises on their computers. Researchers found both groups improved their ability to balance tasks, process information and recall personal experiences. However, people who followed a more regimented routine had nine percent better scores than those who followed a self-guided approach, which researchers called a 'significant' shift. In fact, participants in the structured group performed at a cognitive level one to two years younger than their actual age, suggesting the interventions 'slowed the cognitive aging clock.' The study comes after a recent Lancet Commission study identified 14 modifiable risk factors for dementia, which include physical inactivity, smoking, diet, pollution and lack of social contact, among others. The researchers, speaking Monday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Toronto, said this is the 'first large-scale randomized trial that is demonstrating accessible and sustainable health and lifestyle interventions that can protect cognitive function in diverse populations and communities across the country.' Dr Laura Baker, principal investigator and professor of gerontology and geriatrics at Wake Forest University, said during a press conference ahead of the reveal: 'This test of the POINTER lifestyle prescription provides a new recipe for Americans to improve cognitive function and increase resilience to cognitive decline and that structured lifestyle intervention is feasible. 'I am happy to have a positive clinical trial. We now know that healthy behaviors matter for brain health. Though our rigorous trial we know that.' Trial participants speaking at AAIC also called the study their 'lifeline' and that it helped them reverse key dementia risk factors like prediabetes, obesity and depression. The team is planning to observe participants for another four years and roll the study out to additional sites across the US, many of which are underserved by dementia prevention resources. The study, unveiled today at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Toronto, looked at 2,111 adults from five sites in the US for two years. The report was also published today in the journal JAMA. Participants were ages 60 to 79, with an average age of 68. About 69 percent of participants were female. Adults included in the study tended to live a sedentary lifestyle and follow a typical Western diet. They all also met at least two of the following criteria: had an immediate family history of memory impairment; had cardiovascular issues like high blood pressure or cholesterol cardiometabolic risk; were American Indian or Alaska Native, Black, Middle Eastern or North African race; were Hispanic, Latinx or Spanish; were 70 to 79 years old; or were men. Over two-thirds of participants were white. About one in three were APOE-ε4carriers, making them genetically susceptible to Alzheimer's disease. And eight in 10 had a family history of memory issues. The participants were assigned to two equally sized groups: structured or self-guided lifestyle interventions. Structured interventions included exercise, nutrition, cognitive and social challenges and health coaching. Types of exercise included in the structured group were aerobic (such as running or biking), resistance (weightlifting), and stretching and balance exercise, all mostly done at facilities like a gym or YMCA. Aerobic exercise was done four days per week for 30 to 35 minutes at a time. Resistance training was 15 to 20 minutes for two days per week, while flexibility training was scheduled for 10 to 15 minutes two days per week. Structured participants were also encouraged to follow the MIND diet, which combines tenets of the Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stopping Hypertension). It's been shown to lower dementia risk by emphasizing brain-healthy foods like leafy green vegetables, berries, nuts, olive oil, lean fish and whole grains. They were also given cognitive training exercises on their home computers three times per week for 15 to 20 minutes at a time and attended support group sessions with peers. Meanwhile, participants in the self-guided group were encouraged to follow all of these interventions based on provided educational materials but were not given specific guidelines. Peter Gijsbers van Wijk of Houston was assigned to the self-guided group. He said during AAIC that he focused on working out more, purchasing a smart watch to track his steps and parking further away during trips to the grocery store. He also tried to swap out salty snacks for granola bars and implement more fruits and vegetables in his diet. When his wife passed away during the study, he dedicated his free time to volunteering and 'giving back to the community.' Both groups underwent blood tests and memory assessments every six months. The researchers found both groups improved their cognitive scores after two years of lifestyle interventions, though the structured group had nine percent better scores than those following a self-guided protocol. The structured participants also scored better than self-intervention participants in executive function and processing speed. These are things like switching between tasks and taking in new information. Both groups had similar improvements in episodic memory, the ability to recall specific personal experiences. But the team emphasized strict, structured approach was the most impactful overall. Dr Baker said: 'What we've learned is it's the structure and the support that's needed for success change and endurable change.' There were also fewer adverse effects like illness and death in the structured group than the self-guided group, with 151 serious and 1,095 non-serious events compared to 190 and 1,225. 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Gijsbers van Wijk also suggested providing smart watches to participants who can't afford them so they can better keep track of their health metrics. Dr Baker said: 'We are so proud to be part of this study. It's been a most magnificent journey.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Is THIS the diet that can prevent dementia? New study pinpoints the sorts of food your body needs to stave off memory-robbing disease
A new study has drummed home the importance of lifestyle changes in the battle against preventing dementia—and what you're putting on your plate is key. The US POINTER trial involved more than 2,000 men and women aged between 60 and 79, who were at risk of developing dementia. Subjects were given lifestyle interventions focused on physical activity, diet, brain training, and social engagement, and were monitored for two years. They were instructed to follow the MIND diet —short for Mediterranean-Dash Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay—an eating pattern which combines key features of the Mediterranean diet with a dramatic reduction in salt to help control blood pressure. The participants were split into two groups, and given either a structured or self-guided programme, reports medical journal JAMA. The study author wrote that after two years, both groups showed cognitive improvements compared with the start of the experiment. The were assessed on their memory, executive function, and processing speeds, with the structured group noted as performing slightly better. Adherence to the plan was high in both groups, with less than four per cent of people dropping out. Lead Researcher Dr Jonathan M Schott said: 'From a pragmatic clinical and public health perspective, the key message of US POINTER may be that even relatively modest lifestyle changes can support cognitive health in aging populations.' The MIND diet has 15 components, including 10 'brain-healthy food groups'—green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, olive oil and wine. It also has five unhealthy groups that comprise red meats, butter and stick margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets, and fried or fast food. The MIND diet includes at least three servings of wholegrains, a salad and one other vegetable every day. It also involves snacking most days on nuts and eating beans every other day or so, poultry and berries at least twice a week and fish at least once a week. Dieters must limit eating the designated unhealthy foods, eating less than one tablespoon of butter a day and eating cheese, fried or fast food less than once a week. The Alzheimer's Society estimate that by 2040 there will be 1.4 million people living with dementia in the UK. Dementia is an umbrella term for several brain diseases that affect memory, thinking and cognition, and the most common of those in the UK is Alzheimer's. Previous studies have highlighted four 'pathways' to developing the memory-robbing illness, but there's increasing evidence to support that there are ways to avoid, or at least defer the onset of, the disease. American researchers analysed data from more than 24,000 patients and identified psychiatric conditions, brain dysfunction illnesses, mild cognitive impairments and heart disease, as all leading to the debilitating disorder. A landmark study from Finland which inspired the US POINTER study, the FINGER trial, monitored 1,200 people who were at risk of cognitive decline because of lifestyle factors such as lack of exercise and high blood pressure. It found that interventions to help with diet, exercise and cognitive training significantly improved or maintained cognitive function, protecting the cohort from succumbing to the disease, or at least delaying its onset. In 2020, the Lancet Consortium on Dementia Prevention concluded that 40 per cent of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by targeting 12 modifiable risk factors, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, physical inactivity, excess alcohol intake and smoking. Scientists have previously suggested that the high levels of antioxidant compounds in the MIND diet can protect the brain from harmful inflammation that fuels dementia. Up to four in 10 dementia cases are thought to be attributed to lifestyle factors such as poor diet and lack of exercise. Around 944,000 people in the UK are thought to be living with dementia, while the figure is thought to be around 7million in the US. Analysis by the Alzheimer's Society estimated the overall annual cost of the dementia to the UK is £42billion a year, with families bearing the brunt. An ageing population means these costs—which include lost earnings of unpaid carers—are set to soar to £90billion in the next 15 years. Alzheimer's Research UK analysis found 74,261 people died from dementia in 2022 compared with 69,178 a year earlier, making it the country's biggest killer. Classic early signs of dementia are memory loss, difficulty concentrating, communication issues and mood problems. But there are other lesser known signs, with earlier studies connecting changes in sight, hearing, touch and balance with the early stages of the disease. Experts have called for these sensory changes to be included in diagnostic tests to help people be diagnosed sooner.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Trump swipes at Murdoch's age and poor health in lawsuit
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