Israel identifies projectile launched toward Gaza aid sites amid crisis
Hamas claimed responsibility, stating it targeted an Israeli command post in the area.
The Israeli army said in a statement, 'Last night, the (Israeli military) identified a projectile launched from the Khan Yunis area in southern Gaza, toward the area in which the aid distribution sites in Rafah are located.'
The projectile reportedly landed 250 metres from an aid site near the Morag Corridor, a key route between Khan Yunis and Rafah.
Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, stated it had 'shelled an enemy command and control site in the Morag axis on Wednesday evening' using short-range rockets.
Despite the attack, Israel said aid distribution continued, with 'tens of thousands of weekly food packages' delivered.
The incident highlights ongoing risks for civilians seeking aid in Gaza, where chronic food shortages persist.
Over 100 aid groups warn of 'mass starvation' after 21 months of conflict.
Gaza authorities frequently accuse Israel of firing on crowds near aid points, while Israel blames Hamas for disrupting relief efforts. – AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
9 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Colombia appoints former gay porn actor as equality minister
BOGOTÁ: A former porn actor and gay rights activist will be Colombia's new equality minister, a government source told AFP Friday. Juan Carlos Florian is to be named to the cabinet, an official said, in a move sure to spark debate in the deeply Catholic nation. Florian, who was a sex worker and creator of gay porn, will head up a department that guarantees vulnerable communities get access to social programs. He has already served as a junior minister and worked in various international organisations.
The Star
39 minutes ago
- The Star
Some Gazans given cash for food, but find few supplies to buy: UN
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Relief workers have handed cash to more than 10,000 hungry families in Gaza, who find little food on the market to spend on, UN humanitarians said on Friday. "Market prices remain highly volatile and out of reach for many," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. OCHA said that nearly a week after the Israelis allowed the scale-up of aid and the safe passage for relief convoys, the assistance that has entered Gaza remains insufficient. Convoys continue to face obstacles and danger along the routes mapped out by the Israeli authorities. The office said the months-long deprivation of most life-sustaining basics has led to a deepening of the crisis, and large numbers of people reportedly continue to be killed and injured searching for food. More than 100 people were killed in the past two days along food convoy routes or near Israeli militarized distribution hubs. UN Children's Fund Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban, who just returned from Israel and Gaza, described some of the mission to reporters at the UN headquarters in New York. "We called for more humanitarian aid and commercial traffic to come in, moving closer toward 500 trucks a day, to stabilize the situation and reduce the desperation of the population ... We need to flood the strip with supplies using all channels and all gates," he said. OCHA said fuel remains in short supply, although limited quantities have been allowed to enter Gaza in recent days. "The United Nations and our partners need hundreds of thousands of liters of fuel every day to power critical facilities, including health, water and sanitation, as well as emergency telecommunication services," the office said. OCHA said that while fewer humanitarian movements are denied outright, approved missions still take hours to complete because they are being forced to halt at various points along the approved routes.
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Trump administration suspends UCLA's research funding over antisemitism claims
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Trump administration is suspending federal research funding to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), one of the top public universities in the United States, over claims of "antisemitism and bias," according to the university's chancellor. "UCLA received a notice that the federal government, through its control of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other agencies, is suspending certain research funding to UCLA," the university's chancellor, Julio Frenk, said in a statement Thursday. "This is not only a loss to the researchers who rely on critical grants. It is a loss for Americans across the nation whose work, health, and future depend on the groundbreaking work we do," noted the statement. Frenk pointed out that "hundreds of grants may be lost, adversely affecting the lives and life-changing work of UCLA researchers, faculty and staff" through Washington's decision. Roughly 300 grants amounting to nearly 200 million U.S. dollars were suspended, the Los Angeles Times reported. "In its notice to us, the federal government claims antisemitism and bias as the reasons. This far-reaching penalty of defunding life-saving research does nothing to address any alleged discrimination," the chancellor added. Frenk said that the university "has taken robust actions to make our campus a safe and welcoming environment for all students." The suspension comes after a U.S. Department of Justice civil rights investigation that alleged UCLA had been "deliberately indifferent" to widespread harassment of Jewish and Israeli students during 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses. Earlier this week, the university agreed to pay 6.45 million dollars to settle a lawsuit over treatment of Jewish students and a professor during the protests. UCLA became the latest top university in the country being targeted by the federal government over claims that it has not taken enough actions to combat antisemitism on campus. Last week, Columbia University announced that it agreed to pay over 200 million dollars to the federal government to restore federal funding after it was investigated over campus antisemitism. Another Ivy League school, Brown University, agreed Wednesday to a 50-million-dollar deal with the Trump administration after facing probes over the treatment of Jewish students on campus and the consideration of race in its admissions. In March, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights sent letters to 60 universities, including Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia and Stanford University, regarding investigations into alleged antisemitic discrimination and harassment on their campuses.
