Children collecting water among 92 killed by Israel in Gaza
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Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Israel bombards Gaza, killing 78, as truce talks stall
Israeli forces have continued to pound the besieged Gaza Strip, killing at least 78 Palestinians, including several aid seekers, as ceasefire talks stall amid a deepening fuel and hunger crisis. An Israeli attack near an aid distribution point in Rafah in southern Gaza killed at least five people who were seeking aid on Monday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. The killings raised the death toll of Palestinians killed near aid sites run by the controversial Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to 838, according to Wafa. In Khan Younis, also in southern Gaza, an Israeli strike on a displacement camp killed nine people and wounded many others. In central Gaza's Bureij refugee camp, four people were killed when an Israeli air strike hit a commercial centre, Wafa said. Israeli forces also resumed stepping up attacks in northern Gaza and Gaza City. Israeli media reported an ambush in Gaza City, with a tank hit by rocket fire and later, with small arms. A helicopter was seen evacuating casualties. The Israeli military later confirmed that three soldiers were killed in the incident. Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said Israeli forces responded with 'massive air strikes in the vicinity of [the] Tuffah and Shujayea neighbourhoods, levelling residential buildings'. The Wafa news agency said at least 24 Palestinians were killed in Gaza City and dozens more were wounded. The attacks come as UN agencies continue to plead for more aid to be allowed into Gaza, where famine looms and a severe fuel shortage has brought the already battered healthcare sector to its knees. Gaza's water crisis has also intensified since Israel blocked nearly all fuel shipments into the enclave on March 2. With no fuel, desalination plants, wastewater treatment facilities and pumping stations have largely shut down. Egypt's foreign minister said on Monday that the flow of aid into Gaza has not increased despite an agreement last week between Israel and the European Union that should have had that result. 'Nothing has changed [on the ground],' Badr Abdelatty told reporters ahead of the EU-Middle East meeting in Brussels. 'A real catastrophe' The EU's top diplomat said on Thursday that the bloc and Israel agreed to improve Gaza's humanitarian situation, including increasing the number of aid trucks and opening crossing points and aid routes. When asked what steps Israel has taken, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar referred to an understanding with the EU but did not provide details on the implementation. Asked if there were improvements after the agreement, Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi told reporters that the situation in Gaza remains 'catastrophic'. 'There is a real catastrophe happening in Gaza resulting from the continuation of the Israeli siege,' he said. Meanwhile, stuttering ceasefire talks entered a second week on Monday, with mediators seeking to close the gap between Israel and Hamas. The indirect negotiations in Qatar appear to still remain deadlocked after both sides blamed the other for blocking a deal for the release of captives and a 60-day ceasefire. An official with knowledge of the talks said they were 'ongoing' in Doha on Monday, the AFP news agency reported. 'Discussions are currently focused on the proposed maps for the deployment of Israeli forces within Gaza,' the source reportedly said. 'Mediators are actively exploring innovative mechanisms to bridge the remaining gaps and maintain momentum in the negotiations,' the source added on condition of anonymity. Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who says he wants to see the Palestinian group destroyed, of being the main obstacle. 'Netanyahu is skilled at sabotaging one round of negotiations after another, and is unwilling to reach any agreement,' the group wrote on Telegram. Netanyahu is under growing pressure to end the war, with military casualties rising and public frustration mounting. He also faces backlash over the feasibility and ethics of a plan to build a so-called 'humanitarian city' from scratch on the ruins of southern Gaza's Rafah to house 600,000 Palestinians if and when a ceasefire takes hold. Israel's security establishment is reported to be unhappy with the plan, which the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said amounts to plans for a 'concentration camp'.
Al Jazeera
6 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
At least 72 killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza as truce talks stall
Israeli forces have continued to pound the besieged Gaza Strip, killing at least 72 Palestinians, including several aid seekers, as ceasefire talks stall amid a deepening fuel and hunger crisis. An Israeli attack near an aid distribution point in Rafah in southern Gaza killed at least five people who were seeking aid on Monday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. The killings raised the death toll of Palestinians killed near aid sites run by the controversial Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to 838, according to Wafa. In Khan Younis, also in southern Gaza, an Israeli strike on a displacement camp killed nine people and wounded many others. In central Gaza's Bureij refugee camp, four people were killed when an Israeli air strike hit a commercial centre, Wafa said. Israeli forces also resumed stepping up attacks in northern Gaza and Gaza City. Israeli media reported an ambush in Gaza City, with a tank hit by rocket fire and later, with small arms. A helicopter was seen evacuating casualties. The Israeli military later confirmed that three soldiers were killed in the incident. Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said Israeli forces responded with 'massive air strikes in the vicinity of [the] Tuffah and Shujayea neighbourhoods, levelling residential buildings'. The Wafa news agency said at least 24 Palestinians were killed in Gaza City and dozens more were wounded. The attacks come as UN agencies continue to plead for more aid to be allowed into Gaza, where famine looms and a severe fuel shortage has brought the already battered healthcare sector to its knees. Gaza's water crisis has also intensified since Israel blocked nearly all fuel shipments into the enclave on March 2. With no fuel, desalination plants, wastewater treatment facilities and pumping stations have largely shut down. Egypt's foreign minister said on Monday that the flow of aid into Gaza has not increased despite an agreement last week between Israel and the European Union that should have had that result. 'Nothing has changed [on the ground],' Badr Abdelatty told reporters ahead of the EU-Middle East meeting in Brussels. 'A real catastrophe' The EU's top diplomat said on Thursday that the bloc and Israel agreed to improve Gaza's humanitarian situation, including increasing the number of aid trucks and opening crossing points and aid routes. When asked what steps Israel has taken, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar referred to an understanding with the EU but did not provide details on the implementation. Asked if there were improvements after the agreement, Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi told reporters that the situation in Gaza remains 'catastrophic'. 'There is a real catastrophe happening in Gaza resulting from the continuation of the Israeli siege,' he said. Meanwhile, stuttering ceasefire talks entered a second week on Monday, with mediators seeking to close the gap between Israel and Hamas. The indirect negotiations in Qatar appear to still remain deadlocked after both sides blamed the other for blocking a deal for the release of captives and a 60-day ceasefire. An official with knowledge of the talks said they were 'ongoing' in Doha on Monday, the AFP news agency reported. 'Discussions are currently focused on the proposed maps for the deployment of Israeli forces within Gaza,' the source reportedly said. 'Mediators are actively exploring innovative mechanisms to bridge the remaining gaps and maintain momentum in the negotiations,' the source added on condition of anonymity. Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who says he wants to see the Palestinian group destroyed, of being the main obstacle. 'Netanyahu is skilled at sabotaging one round of negotiations after another, and is unwilling to reach any agreement,' the group wrote on Telegram. Netanyahu is under growing pressure to end the war, with military casualties rising and public frustration mounting. He also faces backlash over the feasibility and ethics of a plan to build a so-called 'humanitarian city' from scratch on the ruins of southern Gaza's Rafah to house 600,000 Palestinians if and when a ceasefire takes hold. Israel's security establishment is reported to be unhappy with the plan, which the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said amounts to plans for a 'concentration camp'.
Qatar Tribune
7 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Clashes kill at least 89 in southern Syria as Israel strikes tanks
dpa Damascus The death toll from fierce fighting in Syria's southern Sweida province has risen to 89, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Monday, as government troops intervened in the escalating tensions. The battles are concentrated around the village of Kanaker and the towns of al-Thaala and al-Mazraa, where Druze armed groups were fiercely resisting attacks by Bedouin tribal fighters and units from the Syrian Defence and Interior Ministries. Among the dead are 50 local Druze, including two children and two women, 18 Bedouin fighters, 14 government soldiers, and seven unidentified fighters in military uniforms. Over 200 people have been injured, many critically, with medical staff overwhelmed and operating under severe shortages in supplies at the Sweida National Hospital. Local and civil sources told Suwayda 24 Television that 'civilians are experiencing dire humanitarian conditions in some villages under attack in the western Suwayda countryside.' Meanwhile, an Israeli fighter jet was seen flying over the area, releasing flares, with loud explosions reported. The Israel Defense Forces announced on Monday that it had targeted several tanks in Sweida province. A statement said: 'The IDF struck the tanks in order to prevent their arrival to the area. The presence of these assets in southern Syria may pose a threat to the State of Israel. The IDF will not allow the establishment of a military threat in southern Syria and will operate against it.' A local Druze said the Israelis gave the Syrian government forces a warning not to approach because 'they do not trust them.' Government soldiers drawn in to Druze-Bedouin dispute According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the violence traces back to the assault and robbery of a Druze youth by tribal gunmen near the town of al-Masmiyah. Clashes erupted amid escalating tensions between Druze factions and Bedouin tribal groups, igniting a violent confrontation that spread across western Sweida. During the clashes, mortar fire, drone strikes and heavy weapons were used between the two sides. A wave of retaliatory kidnappings and road closures followed, culminating in a full-scale armed conflict that drew in government troops. Druze religious leaders in Sweida have called in a statement for immediate international protection to protect civilians and prevent bloodshed. The Syrian Defence Ministry said the intervention to resolve the conflict in Sweida came in response to a need to protect civilians and end the clashes after 48 hours of bloodshed. 'There will be no retreat from efforts to disarm outlawed groups and to restore security and state authority in Sweida. We welcome any initiative that aims to promote civil peace and prevent further bloodshed in the province,' the ministry said. The Syrian Interior Ministry reported earlier that there had been more than 30 deaths and around 100 injuries in several communities. Fears of further sectarian violence The clashes pose a new test for the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, which came to power six months ago promising national unity and stability. In December, an Islamist-led rebel alliance led by al-Sharaa ousted longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad after years of civil war. Since then, the new leadership has sought to rebuild ties with the international community. Internationally, the treatment of minorities in the new Syria is being viewed with particular scepticism. Like al-Sharaa and his companions, the majority of Syrians are Sunni Muslims. Recurring outbreaks of partly sectarian violence in recent months have fuelled fears among minorities including the Druze, Alawites, Shiite Muslims and Christians. Three weeks ago, a previously largely unknown jihadist group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a church in Damascus, which killed at least 25 people and injured more than 60 others. The Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah (Supporters of the Sunnah Battalions) group has threatened further attacks on religious minorities.
