Dozens shot dead in Gaza, authorities say
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Boston Globe
21 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
At least 73 Palestinians killed while waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza, officials say
The largest toll, according to the Gaza ministry, was in the northern part of the territory, where at least 67 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach aid entering northern Gaza through the Zikim crossing with Israel, according to the ministry and local hospitals. Advertisement More than 150 people were wounded, with some of them in critical condition, hospitals said. Seven Palestinians were also killed while sheltering in tents in Khan Younis, including a 5-year-old boy, according to the Kuwait Specialized Field Hospital, which received the casualties. It wasn't immediately clear whether they were killed by the Israeli army or armed gangs or both. But some witnesses said that the Israeli military shot at the crowd. The killings in northern Gaza didn't take place near aid distribution points associated with the Gaza Humanitarian Fund, or GHF, a U.S.- and Israel-backed group that hands out food packages to Palestinians. Witnesses and health workers say hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli fire while trying to access the group's distribution sites. Advertisement Meanwhile, the Israeli military published new evacuation warnings for areas of central Gaza on Sunday, in one of the few areas where the military has rarely operated with ground troops. The evacuation cuts access between the city of Deir al-Balah and the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in the narrow enclave. The announcement came as Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar, but international mediators say there have been no breakthroughs. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed that expanding Israel's military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas to negotiate, but negotiations have been stalled for months. Earlier this month, the Israeli military said that it controlled more than 65% of the Gaza Strip. Cutting off access The area of Gaza under the evacuation order is where many international organizations attempting to distribute aid are located. The United Nations has been in contact with Israeli authorities to clarify whether U.N. facilities in southwestern Deir al-Balah are included in Sunday's evacuation order, according to a U.N. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media. The official said that in previous instances, U.N. facilities were spared from evacuation orders. The evacuation announcement covers an area stretching from a previously evacuated area all the way to the coast and will severely hamper movement for aid groups and civilians in Gaza. Military spokesman Avichay Adraee warned that the military will attack 'with intensity' against militants. He called for residents, including those sheltering in tents, to head to the Muwasi area, a desolate tent camp on Gaza's southern shore that the Israeli military has designated a humanitarian zone. Advertisement Gaza's population of more than 2 million Palestinians are in a Hamas triggered the 21-month war when militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Fifty remain, but fewer than half are thought to be alive. Israel's military offensive that followed has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn't say how many militants are among the dead but says more than half of the dead have been women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government but the U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties. The Hostages Family Forum, a grassroots organization that represents many of the families of hostages, condemned the evacuation announcement and demanded that Netanyahu and the Israeli military explain what they hope to accomplish in the area of central Gaza, accusing Israel of operating without a clear war plan. 'Enough! The Israeli people overwhelmingly want an end to the fighting and a comprehensive agreement that will return all of the hostages,' the forum said. On Saturday night, during the weekly protest, tens of thousands of protesters marched in Tel Aviv to the branch of the U.S. Embassy, demonstrating for an end to the war. Humanitarian disaster grows On Sunday morning, ambulances in front of three major hospitals in Gaza sounded their alarms simultaneously in an urgent appeal to shed light on the hunger crisis in the territory. The health ministry posted pictures on social media of doctors holding paper signs about malnourished children and lack of medication. Zaher al-Wahidi, one of the spokespeople at the health ministry, said that at least nine children under 5 years old have died of malnutrition as of Sunday since the Israel's imposed aid entry blockade in March. Advertisement He explained that tracking the number of people dying of starvation is hard because some could be suffering from other medical conditions that could be worsened when compounded with severe hunger. In northern Gaza, Shifa Hospital director Abu Selmiyah said that the hospital recorded 79 people who died of malnutrition in the past month. Israeli bombardments continued to pound the Gaza Strip overnight. Large explosions in northern Gaza were visible from Israel as plumes of fire shot into the sky. ___ Fatma Khaled reported from Cairo, and Melanie Lidman from Tel Aviv, Israel. Samy Magdy contributed to this report from Cairo.
Leader Live
21 minutes ago
- Leader Live
More than 70 killed trying to reach aid in Gaza, health ministry says
It said 67 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach aid entering northern Gaza through the Zikim crossing with Israel. More than 150 people were injured, with some of them in a critical condition, hospitals said. It was not immediately clear whether they were killed by the Israeli army or armed gangs, or both. But some witnesses said the Israeli military shot at the crowd. The killings in northern Gaza did not take place near aid distribution points associated with the Gaza Humanitarian Fund, or GHF, a US and Israel-backed group that hands out food packages to Palestinians. Witnesses and health workers say hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli fire while trying to access the group's distribution sites. The Israeli military did not immediately make any comment on Sunday's killings. It came as the military published new evacuation warnings for parts of central Gaza, in one of the few areas the military has rarely operated with ground troops. The evacuation cuts access between the city of Deir al-Balah and the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in the narrow enclave. The announcement comes as Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar, but international mediators say there have been no breakthroughs. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed that expanding military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas to negotiate, though negotiations have been stalled for months. Earlier this month, the Israeli military said it controlled more than 65% of the Gaza Strip. The area of Gaza under the evacuation order is where many international organisations attempting to distribute aid are located. The United Nations has been in contact with Israeli authorities to clarify whether its facilities in south-western Deir al-Balah are included in the evacuation order, an official said. They said that in previous instances, UN facilities were spared from evacuation orders. The evacuation announcement covers an area stretching from a previously evacuated area all the way to the coast and will severely hamper movement for aid groups and civilians in Gaza, they added. On Sunday morning, ambulances in front of three major hospitals in Gaza sounded their alarms simultaneously in an urgent appeal to shed light on the hunger crisis in the territory. The health ministry posted pictures on social media of doctors holding paper signs about malnourished children and the lack of medication. Zaher al-Wahidi, one of the spokesmen at the health ministry, said at least nine children under five have died of malnutrition as of Sunday since Israel imposed the aid entry blockade in March. He explained that tracking the number of people dying of starvation is hard because some could be suffering from other medical conditions that could be worsened when compounded with severe hunger. In northern Gaza, Shifa Hospital director Abu Selmiyah said the facility recorded 79 people who died of malnutrition in the past month. On the new evacuation order, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee warned the military will attack 'with intensity' against militants. He called for residents, including those sheltering in tents, to head to the Muwasi area, a desolate tent camp on Gaza's southern shore that the Israeli military has designated a humanitarian zone. Gaza's population of more than two million Palestinians are in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Hamas triggered the 21-month war when militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Fifty hostages remain, but fewer than half are thought to be alive.
DW
21 minutes ago
- DW
Israel: Hostage families voice mistrust in own government – DW – 07/20/2025
With 50 hostages still in Gaza 21 months after the Hamas attacks on Israel, their relatives continue to grow frustrated. Some are losing faith that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will strike a deal to bring them home. On a windy evening in Jerusalem, a few dozen protesters gathered in front of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. According to reports, the protest took place at short notice because at the same time meetings between Israel's most highly-ranked politicians were happening in that same building, discussing the most recent developments in the indirect negotiations with Palestinian militant group Hamas on a ceasefire deal that would result in some of the Israeli hostages returning home. Some of the protesters held a big air balloon above their heads in the shape of the yellow ribbon, the symbol adopted by campaigners calling for the hostages' release. On the balloon were white stickers with various numbers written on them with a black marker pen: 155, 344, 356. These numbers represent the number of days since October 7, 2023, when the hostages were taken. This started when Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersh was murdered in August 2024 by Hamas in Gaza, appeared in interviews with a sticker and a number on it to raise awareness for the hostages' plight. As of July 2025, this number has surpassed 650. "The era of selection is over," reads one of the signs, referring to the choice process which determines who will be released and who will have to stay in Gaza's tunnels until another deal is struck. The story of Carmel Gat shows just how significant the risk to a hostage's life in Gaza is. Gat was kidnapped from her home during the incursion in southern Israel that Hamas led on October 7, 2023. Israel, the United States, the European Union and others designate Hamas a terrorist group,. She was supposed to be among those released as part of the first hostage deal in November 2023 between Israel and Hamas that saw over 100 captives in Gaza freed and 240 Palestinian prisoners released. But when the truce collapsed, she remained in Hamas captivity. After Gat survived 328 days, Israeli soldiers found her and five other Israeli hostages dead in a tunnel in southern Gaza — the autopsy report revealed she and the other hostages were shot at close range. Gat was 40 years old. Her cousin, Gil Dickman, has become one of the most vocal supporters of a deal for the release of the remaining hostages. He told DW that the current state of the negotiations feels like "deja vu." "A year ago (in July 2024), many family members of hostages were with Netanyahu in Washington, DC, myself included. The only difference is that Carmel and five other hostages were alive back then," Dickman recalled. "Carmel could have returned had Netanyahu made the right call." Yehuda Cohen's son, Nimrod, is one of the some 20 hostages believed to be still alive — 30 others are thought to be dead. In a conversation with DW, Yehuda Cohen outlined how he lost his trust that the Israeli government would bring the hostages home. "I don't have any trust in my own government, I don't trust Netanyahu," he said. "I only have trust in the American administration that it will force Netanyahu into sealing a deal." This hope — that the US may yet force through a deal — is prevalent among campaigners in Israel. At the protest in Jerusalem, many signs called on US President Donald Trump, rather than Netanyahu, to do everything in his power to bring the hostages home. Cohen lists the reasons for the mistrust in the Netanyahu government, including the insistence on Israel staying in the Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow strip of land on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, and Netanyahu's aides allegedly leaking classified documents to , a German tabloid, to influence public opinion in Israel in favor of the Netanyahu government's position. According to Cohen, the list of reasons for hostage families not to trust the Israeli government is "very long." While Netanyahu told the hostages' family members that an offer to bring all hostages home in one deal "was never an option," Hamas officials went on record on several occasions emphasizing their interest in a deal that would return the remaining hostages and bring about an end to the war in Gaza. "It is our government that insists on a selection process between the hostages," says Dickman, calling this reckoning "painful to apprehend." Still, both Cohen and Dickman agree that any deal bringing hostages back is a good thing. "Even a partial deal means my son's turn is getting closer," Cohen said. The Israeli public is no stranger to hostage situations, whether it is the Sabena Flight 171 hijacking in 1972 by the Black September Organization, Hamas's kidnapping and killing of Israeli soldier Nachshon Wachsman in 1994 or the group's abduction of Gilad Shalit in 2006. As a result, the principle that no one is left behind became deeply rooted in Israeli society over the years. Dickman believes that while the Israeli public supports this ethos, the same cannot be said of the country's government. "This is a government politically controlled by people whose ethos is, in my eyes, more jihadist than Israeli," he said, referring specifically to the far-right parts of Netanyahu's coalition, primarily National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who both want Palestinians to leave Gaza and Jewish settlements to return there. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "Their goals involve land, not human life, and they consider their goals sacred," he says, adding that the demand for the return of the 50 hostages is also about Israel's future. "It's about whether this country will become such that is willing to sacrifice life — mine, yours — for so-called 'sacred' targets, or rather a country where life is sacred." Yehuda Cohen struck a similar tone: "We have a prime minister who's only committed to himself," he said. "You have people in this government who openly support those who abuse prisoners, which results in the risk of revenge against my son. There's no solidarity in this society; it's each one to their own." According to Yehuda Cohen, the only way to bring his son home is to keep fighting for the hostages' release and the end of the war, whether that means speaking to the media or protesting outside Netanyahu's office.
