Dozens of people waiting for aid among 94 killed in Gaza, authorities say
Dozens of people were killed in air strikes that pounded the Strip on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, including 15 people killed in strikes that hit tents in the sprawling Muwasi zone, where many displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
A separate strike on a school in Gaza City sheltering displaced people also killed 15.
Gaza's Health Ministry said the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza has passed 57,000, including 223 missing people who have been declared dead, since the war began on October 7 2023.
The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its death count but says that more than half of the dead are women and children.
The deaths come as Israel and Hamas inch closer to a possible ceasefire that would end the 21-month war.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen.
But Hamas's response, which emphasised its demand that the war end, raised questions about whether the latest offer could materialise into an actual pause in fighting.
The Israeli military blames Hamas for the civilian casualties because it operates from populated areas. The military said it targeted Hamas militants and rocket launchers in northern Gaza that launched rockets towards Israel on Wednesday.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.
The war has left the coastal Palestinian territory in ruins, with much of the urban landscape flattened in the fighting.
More than 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million population has been displaced, often multiple times. And the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, leaving hundreds of thousands of people hungry.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
7 minutes ago
- The Independent
Israeli airstrikes kill 14 Palestinians in Gaza, another 10 people die seeking food
Israeli airstrikes killed 14 people in the Gaza Strip, while another 10 Palestinians were killed separately as they sought food in the embattled enclave, hospital officials in Gaza told The Associated Press on Saturday. Two American aid workers with the Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) were also injured in southern Gaza in an attack at a food distribution site which the organization claimed was carried out by Hamas, without providing further evidence. The latest bloodshed comes as U.S.-led ceasefire efforts aimed at halting a nearly 21-month war appear to be gaining momentum. Hamas gave a 'positive' response late Friday to the latest U.S. proposal for a 60-day truce but said further talks were needed on implementation. Hamas has been seeking guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. President Donald Trump has been pushing for an agreement and is set to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House next week to discuss a deal. Palestinians killed in southern Gaza The Israeli airstrikes struck tents in the Muwasi area on the southern end of Gaza's Mediterranean coast, killing seven people, including a Palestinian doctor and his three children, according to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Four others were killed in the town of Bani Suheila in southern Gaza, and three people were killed in three different strikes in Khan Younis. The Israeli army did not provide immediate comment on the strikes. Separately, eight Palestinians were killed near a GHF aid distribution site in the southern city of Rafah, the hospital said. One Palestinian was also killed near another GHF point in Rafah. It was not clear how far away the Palestinians were from the sites. GHF denied the killings happened near their sites. Previously the organization has said no one has been shot at its sites, which are guarded by private contractors but can only be accessed by passing Israeli military positions hundreds of meters away. The army had no immediate comment, but has said it fires warning shots as a crowd-control measure and it only aims at people when its troops are threatened. One Palestinian was also killed waiting in crowds for aid trucks in eastern Khan Younis, officials at Nasser Hospital said. The United Nations and other international organizations bring in their own supplies of aid. It was unclear to which organization the aid trucks the Palestinians were waiting for belonged to, but the incident did not appear to be connected to GHF operations. Crowds of Palestinians often wait for trucks and unload or loot their contents before they reach their destinations. These trucks must pass through areas under Israeli military control. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident. American aid workers wounded The GHF said the two American aid workers were injured on Saturday morning when assailants threw grenades at a distribution site in Khan Younis. It blamed Hamas for the attack but gave no further evidence. The foundation later posted a photo of the fragments of the explosive device and claimed, without providing evidence, that it was detonated by Hamas militants. It said the injuries were not life-threatening, and the two men received medical attention. The GHF — a U.S.- and Israeli-backed initiative meant to bypass the U.N. — distributes aid from four sites that are surrounded by Israeli troops, three of which are in the far south of Gaza. The U.N. and other humanitarian groups have rejected the GHF system, saying it allows Israel to use food as a weapon, violates humanitarian principles and it's not effective. Israel says Hamas has been siphoning off aid delivered by the U.N. — a claim the U.N. denies. Hamas has urged Palestinians not to cooperate with the GHF. GHF, which is registered in Delaware, began distributing food in May to Palestinians, who say Israeli troops open fire almost every day toward crowds on roads heading to the distribution points, through Israeli military zones. Several hundred people have been killed and hundreds more wounded, according to Gaza's Health Ministry and witnesses. The war in Gaza was set off after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, displaced nearly all of Gaza's 2 million people and left many on the edge of famine. The ministry is led by medical professionals employed by Gaza's Hamas government. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but its figures are seen by the U.N. and other international organizations as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
NBC News
an hour ago
- NBC News
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says two of its US aid workers injured in Gaza
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said on Saturday that two American aid workers had suffered non-life-threatening injuries in a targeted attack at a food distribution site in Gaza. The U.S.- and Israeli-backed GHF said in a statement that the injured Americans were receiving medical treatment and were in a stable condition. 'The attack — which preliminary information indicates was carried out by two assailants who threw two grenades at the Americans — occurred at the conclusion of an otherwise successful distribution in which thousands of Gazans safely received food,' the GHF said. In addition to aid workers, the GHF employs private U.S. military contractors tasked with providing security at their was not immediately clear who was behind the attack. The Israeli military had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters. Gazan authorities separately reported dozens of Palestinians had been killed by the Israeli military in the past 24 hours, including near aid distribution sites. The Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza on Thursday had warned residents of the coastal enclave not to assist the GHF, saying deadly incidents near its food distribution sites endangered hungry Gazans. The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, bypassing traditional aid channels, including the United Nations which says the U.S.-based organization is neither impartial nor neutral. The GHF has said it has delivered more than 52 million meals to Palestinians in five weeks, while other humanitarian groups had 'nearly all of their aid looted.' Since Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19, the U.N. says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid handouts. A senior U.N. official said last week that the majority of people killed were trying to reach aid distribution sites of the GHF. Footage released by GHF has shown at least one aid site to be overrun with no clear distribution process. Palestinians have described the sites as chaotic. According to Gaza's health ministry, at least 70 people have been killed in the territory by the Israeli military in the last 24 hours, including 23 near aid distribution sites. The ministry did not specify where or how exactly they had been killed. Over 57,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in Israel's war against Hamas, according to the Gaza health ministry, launched after the militant group's surprise attack on Israel in October 7, 2023. Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people in that attack and took another 251 hostages into Gaza. There are 50 hostages still held in Gaza, of which 20 are believed to be alive.
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Israel kills at least 42 Palestinians in Gaza overnight
The number of Palestinians killed includes at least eight aid seekers, Al Jazeera reports. At least two people were killed and others injured on Friday night into Saturday morning in an Israeli bombing which targeted a house in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza. Another five people were killed, and others were wounded, in an Israeli attack on al-Shafi School, in the south east of Gaza City. READ MORE: Craig Murray: I've been left questioning real purpose of Alba Party In the al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis, medical sources reported that seven Palestinians were killed and more than 10 injured after Israeli forces targeted tents sheltering displaced people. Among those killed included Dr Mousa Hamdan Khafaja, a consultant of obstetrics and gynaecology at Nasser Hospital, along with three of his children. According to Gaza's Government Media Office, more than 1580 health workers have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, including 90 doctors and 132 nurses. East of Khan Younis, in the town of Bani Suhaila, at least four Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike, according to sources from the Nasser Medical Complex. Seperately, two people were killed in an Israeli attack on a house in al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. It comes as a new report in the Guardian has found that babies in Gaza are facing death due to critical shortages in baby milk. Dr Ahmad al-Farra, the head of paediatrics at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, said his ward only had a week's worth of baby milk left, which he is also forced to use for premature babies as specialised formula has run out. al-Farra told the Guardian: "I can't begin to describe how bad things are. Right now, we have enough formula for about one week. READ MORE: Here's why banning Orange marches would be a bad idea "But we also have infants outside the hospital without any access to milk. It's catastrophic." Infant formula has almost disappeared in Gaza due to Israel blocking most aid from entering the enclave. Israel has denied restricting the entry of baby food, including formula, but this has been disputed by local health authorities. The Guardian said that at least 66 Palestinian children have starved to death in Gaza since October 2023, citing local health authorities. According to a recent report from a UN-backed group of experts, 500,000 people face catastrophic hunger in Gaza, while the rest of the population is experiencing acute food insecurity.
