Dozens more Palestinians killed by Israeli fire as war drags on
Meanwhile, US envoy Steve Witkoff headed to Israel for talks after ceasefire negotiations with Hamas appeared to have stalled last week.
Mr Witkoff, who has led the Trump administration's efforts to wind down the nearly 22-month war, will arrive in Israel on Thursday for talks on the situation in Gaza.
More than 30 people were killed while seeking humanitarian aid, according to hospitals that received the bodies and treated dozens of wounded people.
Another seven, including one child, died of malnutrition-related causes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on any of the strikes. It says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, because the group's militants operate in densely populated areas.
Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said it received 12 people who were killed on Tuesday night when Israeli forces opened fire towards crowds awaiting aid trucks coming from the Zikim crossing in northern Gaza.
Thirteen others were killed in strikes in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp, and the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, the hospital said.
In the southern city of Khan Younis, Nasser Hospital said it received the bodies of 16 people who it says were killed on Tuesday evening while waiting for aid trucks close to the newly built Morag corridor, which the Israeli military carved out between Khan Younis and the southernmost city of Rafah.
The hospital received another body – a man killed in a strike on a tent in Khan Younis, it said.
The Awda Hospital in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp said it received the bodies of four Palestinians who it says were killed on Wednesday by Israeli fire close to an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the Netzarim corridor area, south of the Wadi Gaza.
Under heavy international pressure, Israel announced a series of measures over the weekend to facilitate the entry of more international aid to Gaza, but aid workers say much more is needed.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) – the leading world authority on hunger crises – has stopped short of declaring famine in Gaza but said on Tuesday that the situation has dramatically worsened and warned of 'widespread death' without immediate action.
Cogat, the Israeli military body that facilitates the entry of aid, said more than 220 trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday. That is far below the 500-600 trucks a day that UN agencies say are needed, and which entered during a six-week ceasefire earlier this year.
The UN is still struggling to deliver the aid that does enter, with most trucks unloaded by crowds in zones controlled by the Israeli military. The alternative aid system run by the Israeli-backed GHF has also been marred by violence.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid since May, most near sites run by the GHF, according to witnesses, local health officials and the UN human rights office.
The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approach its forces, and the GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding.
International airdrops of aid have also resumed, but many of the parcels have landed in areas that Palestinians have been told to evacuate while others have plunged into the Mediterranean Sea, forcing people to swim out to retrieve drenched bags of flour.
A total of 89 children have died of malnutrition since the war began in Gaza. The ministry said 65 Palestinian adults have also died of malnutrition-related causes across Gaza since late June, when it started counting deaths among adults.
Israel denies there is any starvation in Gaza and says the focus on hunger undermines ceasefire efforts.
Hamas started the war with its attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023, in which militants killed around 1,200 people and abducted 251 others. They still hold 50 hostages, including around 20 believed to be alive. Most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count does not distinguish between militants and civilians.
The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Imran Khan's party turns to UN as former Pakistan prime minister marks 2 years in prison
As Imran Khan completes two years in jail, his party is preparing to approach the UN with a new case alleging 'torture' and 'inhumane' treatment of Pakistan 's former prime minister and his wife in custody. A UN human rights working group last year found the former leader's incarceration to be arbitrary and unlawful and ruled the 'appropriate remedy would be to release Khan immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law'. Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari, a senior aide to Khan, tells The Independent that their Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party is once again approaching the UN with formal documentation outlining the alleged custodial torture of the former leader and his wife, Bushra Bibi. 'We are putting a case,' he says, 'it's going to be lodged very soon.' The party is also ramping up pressure at home. To mark the second anniversary of Khan's arrest on 5 August, members and supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf intend to take to the streets, demanding their leader's release and denouncing what they call a sustained campaign to silence the country's most popular political figure. Bukhari says supporters will organise peaceful rallies and neighbourhood meetings and the party will release a 'white paper' documenting what it calls years of state repression. The party aims for the protest to build momentum towards a broader national mobilisation. 'There is no choice but to start building momentum for a national protest. We want to start off building momentum,' he says. Khan was removed as prime minister through a parliamentary no confidence motion in 2022 and arrested over corruption allegations on 9 May 2023. His arrest sparked nationwide protests, some of which turned violent and targeted military installations. Khan was released shortly after but jailed again on 5 August 2023, marking the beginning of a series of legal battles. The jailed leader has accused Pakistan 's powerful military of conspiring with the US to topple him. The military and the US have denied the accusations. Khan's party has faced a sustained state crackdown since his ouster. Just last week, a Pakistani court sentenced 108 senior members of the party, including leader of the opposition Omar Ayub Khan, to 10 years in prison for their alleged role in the 2023 anti-government protests sparked by Khan's arrest. The ruling was another major setback for the party, which had already lost many of its leaders to arrests or pressure to quit politics. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has maintained the 2023 protests were mostly peaceful and reflected public anger against Khan's arrest. But the government has used antiterrorism laws to crack down on the party's leadership that it has accused of being involved in the agitation. Critics say the sentencing of over 100 leaders at once shows the state's aim is to weaken the party. Khan's lawyers are sounding concern over what they describe as the erosion of judicial independence in Pakistan. Abuzar Salman Niazi, one of the lawyers, claims the courts are being used to sideline the former prime minister through politically motivated convictions and procedural delays. He also says Khan's treatment in prison violates both Pakistani law and international human rights standards. 'He's kept in solitary confinement for 22 to 23 hours a day. Even safe drinking water is not provided,' Niazi tells The Independent. 'There is psychological torture that he is being subjected to continuously. His wife is being treated in a very unfair manner.' According to Khan's legal team, the judiciary is increasingly aligned with the executive, denying fair trial rights and enabling what they call a systematic effort to crush dissent. Khan's party alleges that he and his wife face inhumane treatment in custody, especially during Pakistan 's searing summer. 'The last six months, especially the last three to four months, have been excruciatingly hot,' Bukhari says. 'They've blocked access to him. There's been a severe lack of communication. His legal team has extremely limited to no access. His calls to his children, some weeks go by where he doesn't meet anybody.' The Independent sent a list of questions for Khan through a close aide, but they were unable to obtain a response because, they claimed, his lawyers were being denied access to him. While Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf continues to call for mass mobilisation and international intervention to get Khan out, it is grappling with internal challenges as well. The sweeping state crackdown has not only targeted the party's leadership but also sparked internal fragmentation. Several prominent figures have either distanced themselves from the party or gone silent under pressure, leaving a vacuum that the party has struggled to fill. Bukhari acknowledges these challenges. 'There's always going to be issues with leadership when the most popular leader of the largest political party is in prison,' he says. 'It's only natural you're going to have these problems because the party has always been led by someone who's a larger-than-life figure, and people have got to know him and got to believe in him and love him. So, no one is going to live up to that. There're naturally going to be shortfalls all around. The main thing is that, in what you call fragmentation, is that these are problems that will continue until Imran Khan comes out.' He claims the to sow confusion and disunity. 'They suffocate our communication with him, which creates different variants of what Imran Khan may have thought or said in prison,' he explains. 'That's very tactfully done.' As Khan remains effectively cut off from his party and legal battles keep mounting – he still faces over 200 cases – questions loom over what Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf looks like without the founder at the helm. In the absence of Khan from day-to-day politics, there is no one to fill the leadership vacuum. In spite of these challenges, the party insists it is not collapsing. Bukhari says that no leader in 'Pakistan's history' can match Khan's popularity or charisma, so, instead of trying to replace him, they must focus on keeping the party united. 'It's not about filling his shoes,' he argues. 'It's about steering the party in a manner that can weather the storm.' Niazi says Khan has endured his physical and emotional torment, including pressure on his family meant to break him, with courage. 'But he's still standing tall. He's not giving up. He's standing for the rule of law. He's standing tall for democracy,' the lawyer says. 'He's standing tall for an independent judiciary.' Khan's imprisonment has become a flashpoint in Pakistan's ongoing political crisis, raising concerns about the fairness of the justice system and the space for opposition voices. For many, Khan's time behind bars has only reinforced the image he spent years building – that of a defiant figure weathering the storm. Still, with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf facing a sweeping crackdown and Khan dealing with his own mounting legal troubles, it's unclear how long his resilience alone can sustain a party under siege.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Trump ‘pushing for all or nothing deal' on Gaza as Netanyahu ‘wants full occupation'
Donald Trump is pushing for an 'all or nothing' agreement to end the war in Gaza while Benjamin Netanyahu wants to occupy the entire Gaza Strip, according to reports. After months of ceasefire talks stalled, Mr Netanyahu and Mr Trump are reportedly working on a deal that presents Hamas with an ultimatum: release the hostages and agree to terms to disarm or the war continues. 'No piecemeal deals. That doesn't work,' US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly told hostage families in an audio leaked to Israeli news outlet Ynet. 'We think that we have to shift this negotiation to 'all or nothing' - everybody comes home,' Mr Witkoff was quoted as saying later in the recording. International leaders have ramped up pressure to reach a deal as Gaza faces widespread starvation and videos of two emaciated Israeli hostages circulated online. Domestic pressure in Israel has also been growing as the videos prompted thousands of people to protest in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to release the hostages and end the war. Nearly 600 retired Israeli security officials and former intelligence agency heads have written to Mr Trump urging him to put pressure on Israel to end the war in Gaza immediately. Mr Netanyahu is set to update his military plan for Gaza this week amid local media reports he wants to occupy all of the besieged enclave. 'The die is cast - we are going for a full occupation of the Gaza Strip,' senior officials close to Netanyahu is quoted as saying in Ynet. 'There will be activity also in areas where hostages are being held. If this doesn't suit the IDF Chief of Staff, he can resign.' An official was also quoted as telling Israeli Channel 12: 'The decision has been made… we are going to occupy the Gaza Strip.' The Jerusalem Post and i24NEWS also reported senior sources confirming plans for a full occupation. Mr Netanyahu's office has been approached for comment. Meanwhile, 'the worst-case scenario of famine' is playing out in Gaza, according to a UN-back food security agency. Israel has repeatedly denied that there are restrictions on aid or that there is a hunger crisis in Gaza. It blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza and says it is taking steps to get more aid to Palestinians. In total, 289 airdrops have been conducted since Israel permitted them to restart two weeks ago, delivering 305 tonnes of aid. However officials in Jordan warned that they have had warehouses of aid for Gaza gathering dust since Israel reimposed its devastating blockade in March. More than 60,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Lindsay Hoyle blocks release of emails sent to Israeli politicians
Responding to an Freedom of Information (FoI) request lodged by Declassified UK, the UK Government said Hoyle was the individual who had chosen not to release written correspondence since October 2023 between himself and the Israeli Embassy, Labour Friends of Israel and members or officials of the Knesset, the Israeli legislature. The response said that Hoyle "has formed the reasonable opinion that disclosure of the information would be likely to prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs". READ MORE: What reparations should Palestine receive? The Fringe show where you decide Hoyle previously visited Israel in November 2023 for a 'solidarity visit'. Israel's ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely shared a video clip of his visit online. He said: "Unless you witness and come here to see what's happened, you cannot imagine the atrocity took place." In 2024, Hoyle was heavily criticised for allowing rules to be changed for the first time over a vote led by the SNP on a ceasefire in Palestine - ultimately saving Labour from a rebellion threat. The House of Commons erupted into chaos as Hoyle selected both UK Government and Labour amendments, making it the first time in at least 25 years that the move had occurred on an Opposition Day, the clerk of the House confirmed - calling it a "departure from long-established convention". Nearly 100 MPs signed a no-confidence motion in the Speaker – but a bid to have the issue referred to the Privileges Committee failed. Hoyle caused further outrage when he told the SNP that they would have another opportunity to put forward a ceasefire motion, but this was not followed up on. The full FoI response stated: You asked to be provided with written correspondence since 1 October 2023 between the Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle and the Israeli Embassy, Labour Friends of Israel and members and/or officials of the Knesset, the Israeli legislature. The House of Commons holds information within the scope of your request. While we hold this information however, it is withheld from release in accordance with section 36(2)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). This is because the Speaker of the House of Commons, on advice from House officials, including Speaker's Counsel and Clerk of the Journals, has formed the reasonable opinion that disclosure of the information would be likely to prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs. Section 36 FOIA provides an absolute exemption in the case of the House of Commons and the public interest test does not apply. You may, if dissatisfied with the handling of your request, complain to the House of Commons. Alternatively, if you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your request, you may ask the House of Commons to conduct an internal review of any decision regarding your request.
