Israel ramps up Gaza offensive as starvation crisis spirals - updates
Date: less than 1 min ago
Title: Israeli evacuation orders in Gaza's Deir al-Balah leave residents with nowhere to go, aid coordinator tells CNN
Content:
Israel's incursion in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on Monday has 'worsened the situation more and more' as people in Gaza are displaced again, a humanitarian coordinator told CNN.
'There is no ability to help our people with the aid distribution,' said Eyad Awami, representative of the Global Gaza Relief Agency in Deir al-Balah, adding that the little aid that remains is difficult to distribute since no organization is supervising the deliveries.
'They (the Israeli military) order us to flee from our homes, and after that without our tents, without any safety, without any shelters… so there is no safe place that we can go and take care of our children and our elderly people,' Awami told CNN's John Vause.
Israeli tanks on Monday rolled into Deir al-Balah, a part of central Gaza that has not previously seen ground operations in the 21-month war, according to Israeli media, aid agencies and witnesses. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declined to comment on its operations. However, Israel Army Radio said the operation had begun.
The United Nations said the evacuation order had 'dealt yet another devastating blow to the already fragile lifelines keeping people alive across the Gaza Strip.'
Update:
Date: 4 min ago
Title: Western nations slam Israel's "drip feeding of aid" to Gaza
Content:
The foreign ministers of 25 Western nations slammed Israel for 'drip feeding' aid into the Gaza Strip, as the health ministry in the territory said that more than 1,000 people have been killed seeking humanitarian relief there since late May.
The Palestinian health ministry did not specify the location of the deaths, but according to the United Nations, most casualties occurred while people were making their way to aid distribution sites operated by the controversial Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which began operating on May 27.
Palestinian officials and witnesses have said the Israeli military is responsible for most of those deaths.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has acknowledged firing warning shots toward crowds in some instances, and denied responsibility for other incidents. In late June, the military said it had 'reorganized' the approach routes to aid sites to minimize 'friction with the population,' but the killings have continued.
In their Monday statement, the Western foreign ministers said that 'the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.'
'The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity. We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food,' they said.
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