Israel-Hamas war: Gaza civil defence says Israeli attacks kill 26 near two aid centres
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People carry the bodies of victims who were killed by Israeli bombardment outside Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on July 16, 2025. Photo / AFP
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli attacks killed 26 people and wounded more than 100 near two aid centres in the south of the Palestinian territory.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Basal told AFP that 22 were killed near a site southwest of Khan Yunis and four near another centre northwest of Rafah, blaming 'Israeli gunfire' for both.
One witness said he headed to the Al-Tina area of Khan Yunis before dawn with five of his relatives to try to get food when 'Israeli soldiers' started shooting.
'My relatives and I were unable to get anything,' Abdul Aziz Abed, 37, told AFP. 'Every day I go there and all we get is bullets and exhaustion instead of food.'
The Israeli military said it was 'looking into' the claims when contacted by AFP.
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NZ Herald
5 hours ago
- NZ Herald
‘We have no energy left' - AFP journalists explain what it's like covering and living through Gaza war
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'I'm exhausted from carrying heavy cameras on my shoulders and walking long distances,' he said. 'We can't even reach coverage sites because we have no energy left due to hunger and lack of food.' Qattaa relies on painkillers for a back complaint, but said basic medicines were not available in pharmacies, and the lack of vitamins and nutritious food have added to his difficulties. The constant headaches and dizziness he has suffered due to lack of food and water have also afflicted AFP contributor Khadr Al-Zanoun, 45, in Gaza City, who said he has even collapsed because of it. 'Since the war began, I've lost about 30 kilos and become skeletal compared to how I looked before the war,' he said. 'I used to finish news reports and stories quickly. Now I barely manage to complete one report per day due to extreme physical and mental fatigue and near-delirium.' Worse, though, was the effect on his family, he said. 'They're barely hanging on,' he added. 'Hunger has shaken my resolve' Eyad Baba, another photojournalist, was displaced from his home in Rafah, in the south, to a tent in Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, where the Israeli military this week began ground operations for the first time. But he could not bear life in the sprawling camp, so he instead rented an apartment at an inflated price to try to at least provide his family some comfort. Baba, 47, has worked non-stop for 14 months, away from his family and friends, documenting the bloody aftermath of bullets and bombs, and the grief that comes with it. Hardest to deal with, though, is the lack of food, he said. 'I can no longer bear the hunger. Hunger has reached my children and has shaken my resolve,' he added. 'We've psychologically endured every kind of death during our press coverage. Fear and the sense of looming death accompany us wherever we work or live.' 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'A kilo of flour sells for 100–150 shekels (US$30-45), beyond our ability to buy even one kilo a day. 'Rice is 100 shekels, sugar is over 300 shekels, pasta is 80 shekels, a litre of oil is 85–100 shekels, tomatoes 70–100 shekels. Even seasonal fruits now - grapes, figs - cost 100 shekels per kilo. 'We can't afford them. I don't even remember how they taste.' Afana said she keeps working from a worn-out tent in intense heat that can reach more than 30C but going days without food and only some water makes it a struggle. 'I move slowly, unlike before,' she said. 'The danger isn't just the bombing. Hunger is slowly killing our bodies and threatening our ability to carry on. 'Now, I'm not just reporting the news. I'm living the catastrophe and documenting it at the same time.' 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'It certainly is time, if not long overdue, for international media to go into Gaza precisely to look into the facts and to help with reporting first-hand information on the horrors that people in Gaza are living through,' she said. Rapid collapse of critical lifelines UN humanitarians continue to highlight the rapid collapse of critical lifelines in Gaza amid ongoing hostilities. Local authorities said more than a dozen children and adults died from hunger in the past 24 hours, UN aid coordination office, OCHA, reported on Tuesday. 'Hospitals have admitted people in a state of severe exhaustion caused by a lack of food, and others are said to be collapsing in the streets,' it said. 'This is on top of continued reports of people being shot, killed or injured while simply trying to find food – food that is only being allowed into Gaza in quantities that are far too small.' Furthermore, in many cases where UN teams are permitted by Israel to collect supplies from closed compounds near border crossings, civilians approaching the trucks come under fire, despite repeated assurances that troops would not be present or engage. OCHA said 'this unacceptable pattern is the opposite of what facilitating humanitarian operations should look like,' underscoring that 'absolutely no one should have to risk their life to get food.'
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Health Ministry issues first warning about vaping product
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