Gaza Death Toll Tops 58,000 as Ceasefire Talks Stall
The devastating war on Gaza has pushed over two million people in Gaza to the brink of famine. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) reported on Sunday that a seven-month-old baby girl named Salam died from malnutrition. Gaza authorities say 67 children have already died of hunger.
UNICEF, the UN's children's agency, said 5,800 children were diagnosed with malnutrition in June, with more than 1,000 in severe condition. 'Children's bodies are wasting away. This is not just a nutrition crisis. It's a child survival emergency,' UNICEF said.
Eight UN agencies, including UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and the World Health Organization, warned that their operations in Gaza could stop completely due to a lack of fuel. Without fuel, hospitals, ambulances, and clean water systems cannot function.
Gaza's Government Media Office accused Israel and its allies of targeting civilians at aid distribution points. It called US-backed humanitarian aid areas 'death traps' and accused Israel of carrying out 'genocide engineering' with US support – a concern that has been echoed by international humanitarian agencies.
Since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began operating in May, at least 805 people have been killed and 5,250 wounded while trying to collect aid, according to Palestinian officials.
Meanwhile, ceasefire talks are still underway in Doha, Qatar. US President Donald Trump said he hopes a deal will be reached soon. His Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in talks with Qatari mediators on the sidelines of the FIFA Club World Cup Final in the US.
However, a US-backed plan for a 60-day ceasefire remains stuck.
Muhammad al-Hindi, a senior leader in Palestinian Islamic Jihad, told Al Jazeera that Israel is refusing to commit to key demands, including ending the war, withdrawing troops, and allowing safe delivery of aid. He said the talks cannot move forward until those conditions are met.
'We cannot legitimize these aid traps that are killing our people. The resistance will not sign any agreement that amounts to surrender,' he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Morocco World
11 hours ago
- Morocco World
Gaza Death Toll Tops 58,000 as Ceasefire Talks Stall
Rabat – The Gaza Health Ministry said the total number of people Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed since the war began in October 2023 has surpassed 58,026, as ceasefire talks remain deadlocked. At least 138,500 people have been injured. The devastating war on Gaza has pushed over two million people in Gaza to the brink of famine. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) reported on Sunday that a seven-month-old baby girl named Salam died from malnutrition. Gaza authorities say 67 children have already died of hunger. UNICEF, the UN's children's agency, said 5,800 children were diagnosed with malnutrition in June, with more than 1,000 in severe condition. 'Children's bodies are wasting away. This is not just a nutrition crisis. It's a child survival emergency,' UNICEF said. Eight UN agencies, including UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and the World Health Organization, warned that their operations in Gaza could stop completely due to a lack of fuel. Without fuel, hospitals, ambulances, and clean water systems cannot function. Gaza's Government Media Office accused Israel and its allies of targeting civilians at aid distribution points. It called US-backed humanitarian aid areas 'death traps' and accused Israel of carrying out 'genocide engineering' with US support – a concern that has been echoed by international humanitarian agencies. Since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began operating in May, at least 805 people have been killed and 5,250 wounded while trying to collect aid, according to Palestinian officials. Meanwhile, ceasefire talks are still underway in Doha, Qatar. US President Donald Trump said he hopes a deal will be reached soon. His Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in talks with Qatari mediators on the sidelines of the FIFA Club World Cup Final in the US. However, a US-backed plan for a 60-day ceasefire remains stuck. Muhammad al-Hindi, a senior leader in Palestinian Islamic Jihad, told Al Jazeera that Israel is refusing to commit to key demands, including ending the war, withdrawing troops, and allowing safe delivery of aid. He said the talks cannot move forward until those conditions are met. 'We cannot legitimize these aid traps that are killing our people. The resistance will not sign any agreement that amounts to surrender,' he said.
Morocco World
27-06-2025
- Morocco World
Gaza Authorities Accuse Israel, US of Hiding Drugs in Humanitarian Aid
Rabat – Gaza's Government Media Office has raised serious concerns after discovering narcotic pills hidden inside flour bags that were distributed through US- and Israeli-backed aid centers in the war-torn enclave. In a statement published on Telegram, the office called the discovery a dangerous attack on public health. According to the statement, at least four people have reported finding pills called 'Oxycodone' in bags of flour they received. Oxycodone is a powerful painkiller that can cause addiction. The media office warned that some of the flour may have even been mixed with the drug, which would make the situation even more dangerous. 'We hold the Israeli occupation fully responsible for this heinous crime of spreading addiction and destroying the Palestinian social fabric from within, as part of a systematic policy that constitutes an extension of the genocide it is waging against our Palestinian people,' it added. Officials in Gaza said this act is part of a 'dirty war' against civilians and a way to use drugs as a weapon. They described it as a war crime and a clear violation of international humanitarian law. Aid points turn deadly The Government Media Office also accused Israeli occupation forces of killing and injuring Palestinians near aid centers. It said that in the past four weeks, Israel has killed at least 549 Palestinians and injured over 4,000 others while trying to get humanitarian aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an initiative backed by the US and Israel. The office referred to a recent investigation by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which published what it called 'shocking confessions' from Israeli soldiers. According to the article, soldiers received orders to shoot starving Palestinians near the aid distribution points, even when they posed no threat. 'The Israeli occupation army is pursuing a systematic policy of genocide under the false guise of 'relief',' Gaza's media office said. The medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) also spoke out against the aid scheme. In a strong statement, MSF said the operation should be stopped immediately, calling it 'slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid.' MSF, along with human rights groups and local authorities, say the so-called relief efforts are putting people in danger, rather than helping them survive.
Morocco World
19-06-2025
- Morocco World
Israel Condemns Iran's Alleged Targeting of Hospital
Seven days into a conflict triggered by Israel's unprovoked attack on Iranian territory, Iran launched 20 ballistic missiles early Thursday morning, one of which reportedly struck the Soroka Medical Centre in Beersheba, southern Israel. Israeli officials and hospital sources described it as a 'direct hit.' Footage circulating online shows significant structural damage, though the hospital's director confirmed that all staff and patients were safe in fortified shelters, resulting in no serious injuries. The strike came hours after Israel launched fresh airstrikes on Iran — which the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) claimed were aimed at nuclear facilities — continuing to frame their aggression as 'retaliatory.' In contrast, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its missile barrage was a precise attack on military infrastructure, not civilian targets. Iranian sources emphasized that any damage to the hospital was caused by shockwaves and denied that civilian infrastructure was deliberately targeted. Human shields and war crimes Iranian outlets also noted that Soroka Hospital sits between two key Israeli military installations — the IOF's main intelligence headquarters and a central command facility located in the Gav-Yam Technology Park. These sites reportedly serve as hubs for Israeli cyberwarfare and digital command systems. The proximity of a hospital to such critical military infrastructure raises serious questions about Israel's long-standing practice of embedding civilian sites around military assets — a tactic it routinely accuses others of using. While Iranian officials reiterated the strike's military intent, Israel and its allies rushed to denounce the hospital damage as a war crime — a stunning display of hypocrisy from a state that has spent the past 20 months systematically bombing hospitals across Gaza. Israel has raided medical facilities, kidnapped doctors, and imposed a blockade that denies even basic medical supplies. Palestinian surgeons have been forced to operate without anesthesia, amputating limbs with rudimentary tools under siege. And yet, it is only now — when an Israeli hospital sustains damage — that Israeli leaders rediscover the language of international law. Israel's moral posturing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, currently wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Gaza, quickly took to X to vow revenge: 'This morning, Iran's 'terrorist tyrants' launched missiles at Soroka hospital in Beersheba and at a civilian population in central Israel,' he wrote. 'Israel will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran.' Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel echoed Netanyahu, claiming: 'Iran just hit Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva with a ballistic missile. Not a military base. A hospital. Deliberate. Criminal. Civilian target.' Haskel has consistently defended Israel's genocide in Gaza and dismissed international condemnations as 'blood libel.' She also baselessly accused 10,000 UNRWA staff of being Hamas members — a falsehood that helped justify the defunding of a vital lifeline for besieged Palestinians. Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz said that the IOF has been instructed to escalate operations, warning of intensified strikes on what he called 'strategic targets in Iran and against government targets in Tehran.' Katz, continuing the state's hypocritical messaging, accused Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei of committing war crimes: 'These are war crimes of the most serious kind – and Khamenei will be held accountable.' This comes from the same minister who personally oversaw the complete humanitarian blockade on Gaza, manufacturing starvation for over two million people. Katz later issued a direct threat to Khamenei: 'Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed – he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals. He considers the destruction of the state of Israel to be a goal, such a man can no longer exist.' A tale of two narratives While Iran has denied deliberately targeting the hospital, many observers have pointed out that — even if it had —the strike would be considered 'legitimate' by Israel's own warped logic. Israel routinely labeled every hospital in Gaza a Hamas 'command center' and used that claim to justify repeated attacks on Gaza's medical infrastructure, despite never providing credible evidence. In fact, as Israel prepared for potential Iranian strikes, hospitals across the country activated emergency protocols and moved patients to underground shelters. Footage circulating online appears to show armed Israeli soldiers taking cover alongside medical staff in hospital basements—exposing Israel's own use of the very tactics it falsely accuses others of employing. International media swiftly echoed Israel's narrative, reporting on the strike as a hospital attack by Iran — a level of outrage and clarity that has been consistently absent in coverage of Israel's relentless bombing of Gaza's hospitals. When Palestinian hospitals are attacked , the language softens: murders become 'deaths,' baseless Israeli accusations are parroted without evidence, and Israel itself is often omitted as the perpetrator. Also missing from headlines are Israel's recent attacks on Iranian hospitals. In recent days, Israeli airstrikes targeted two civilian hospitals in Tehran and Kermanshah — a flagrant act that has drawn little international condemnation and even fewer headlines. According to the Iran-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Israel's strikes have killed at least 639 people and injured 1,329. Meanwhile, reporting from Jordan due to being banned from Israel and the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera said six Israelis are in critical condition following Iran's attacks on Thursday. The Israeli death toll remains officially at 24 — a figure shrouded in media ambiguity, as Israel appears to both conceal the scale of its own losses and exaggerate civilian targeting to amplify its victim narrative.
