Airstrikes and shootings kill 94 Palestinians in Gaza including dozens trying to get aid, officials say
Hospitals and Gaza's Health Ministry said 94 people were killed overnight including 45 people who were attempting to get aid.
Five people were killed around sites associated with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the American organisation backed by Israel to feed the Gaza Strip's population, the ministry said.
A further 33 people were killed waiting for aid trucks in other locations across the Gaza Strip, it added. Israel 's military did not immediately comment on the strikes but the government has hit back at ongoing criticism of its handling of the aid crisis in Gaza.
On Thursday, human rights organisation Amnesty International released a report accusing Israel of 'militarising' aid distribution as a starvation tactic against the Palestinian population. Israel denied the allegations and accused Amnesty of having 'joined forces with Hamas'.
Gaza's Health Ministry says more than 500 Palestinians have been killed at or near GHF distribution centres over the past month, including the five overnight between Wednesday and Thursday in Khan Younis. The centres are guarded by private security contractors and located near Israeli military positions. Palestinian officials and witnesses have accused Israeli forces of opening fire at crowds of people moving near the sites.
Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, said in the month since Israel imposed the GHF aid scheme, 'hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured either near militarised distribution sites or en route to humanitarian aid convoys.
'Israel's genocide has continued unabated in Gaza including creating a deadly mix of hunger and disease pushing the population past breaking point.'
Ms Callamard said Israel has a legal obligation to ensure Palestinians in Gaza can access essentials including food and medicine.
'Instead, Israel has continued to restrict the entry of aid and impose its suffocating cruel blockade and even a full siege lasting nearly 80 days. This must end now. Israel must lift all restrictions and allow unfettered, safe, and dignified access to humanitarian aid throughout Gaza immediately,' she added.
Israel has adamantly and repeatedly rejected allegations of genocide and is challenging such claims at the International Court of Justice.
In a statement responding to the report, the Israel Foreign Ministry said: 'Amnesty International has joined forces with Hamas and fully adopted all of its propaganda lies - its new name is now 'Amnesty Hamas'.
'Since May 19, Israel has facilitated the entry of over 3,000 aid trucks into the Gaza Strip. More than 1,400 tons of baby formula have been delivered. Over 56 million meals have been distributed by the GHF, directly to Palestinian civilians, not to Hamas.'
Although it has yet to respond to the Amnesty report, the GHF has pushed back against ongoing criticism of its aid operation in Gaza.
In a lengthy statement on X on Wednesday, it said: 'GHF's aid distribution model is designed to deliver free aid directly to civilians. We protect aid from theft so that the food can go straight to those who need to feed their families. We've done this successfully since late May.
'The Palestinian people who need food are not helped when the international community falls for Hamas propaganda campaigns. So we will continue to call out disinformation so it doesn't slow us down as we double and triple the 56 million meals we've delivered to date. We're not going anywhere.'
Meanwhile, efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza have continued. Earlier this week Donald Trump said Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalise a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which the parties will work to end the war.
Hamas is seeking clear guarantees that the ceasefire will eventually lead to the war's end, a source close to the group told Reuters. Two Israeli officials said those details were still being worked out. The US proposal includes the staggered release of 10 living Israeli hostages and the return of the bodies of 18 more in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, sources say. Of the 50 remaining hostages in Gaza, 20 are believed to still be alive.
An Israeli government spokesperson said prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was working to end the campaign in Gaza by securing the release of the remaining hostages, and the 'defeat of the Hamas terrorist organisation as soon as possible'.
'The obstacle as ever, lies with Hamas,' spokesman David Mencer said Thursday. 'Hamas is a terrorist organisation and the prime minister said they will be no more Hamas. He said this very clearly just yesterday. I believe there will be no 'Hamas-stan'. There'll be no more going back to what we've done before. That two year, every two-year conflict, it's over.
'Now we here in Israel, led by the prime minister, believe there is a huge opportunity here, both in our defeat of our enemies and also to ensure that with nations now coming to us to try and initiate peace agreements. Peace through strength - first comes strength then comes to peace.'
The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, while displacing most of the population of more than 2 million, triggering widespread hunger and leaving much of the territory in ruins.
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
A boy in Gaza with brain damage fights for his life amid blockade
It's as if the whole weight of Israel's war in Gaza has fallen on Amr al-Hams. The 3-year-old has shrapnel in his brain from an Israeli strike on his family's tent. His pregnant mother was killed. His father is paralyzed by grief over the death of his longtime sweetheart. Now the boy is lying in a hospital bed, unable to speak, unable to move, losing weight, while doctors don't have the supplies to treat his brain damage or help in his rehabilitation after a weekslong blockade and constant bombardment. Recently out of intensive care, Amr's frail body twists in visible pain. His wide eyes dart around the room. His aunt is convinced he's looking for his mother. He can't speak, but she believes he is trying to say 'mom.' 'I am trying as much as I can. It is difficult,' said his aunt Nour al-Hams, his main caregiver, sitting next to him on the bed in Khan Younis' Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. 'What he is living through is not easy.' To reassure him, his aunt sometimes says his mother will be back soon. Other times, she tries to distract him, handing him a small ball. The war has decimated the health system The war began Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people captive. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which says women and children make up most of the dead but does not specify how many were fighters or civilians. Nearly 21 months into the conflict that displaced the vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people, it is nearly impossible for the critically wounded to get the care they need, doctors and aid workers say. The health care sector has been decimated: Nearly half of the territory's 36 hospitals have been put out of service. Daily bombings and strikes overwhelm the remaining facilities, which are operating only partially. They struggle with shortages of anything from fuel, gauze and sutures to respirators or scanners that have broken down and can't be replaced. Israeli forces have raided and besieged medical facilities, claiming Hamas militants have used them as command centers. Doctors have been killed or were displaced, unable to reach hospitals because of continued military operations. For more than 2 1/2 months, Israel blocked all food, medicine and other supplies from entering Gaza, accusing Hamas of siphoning off aid to fund its military activities, though the U.N. said there was no systematic diversion. The population was pushed toward famine. Since mid-May, Israel has allowed in a trickle of aid, including medical supplies. Gaza's Health Ministry estimates that 33,000 children have been injured during the war, including 5,000 requiring long-term rehabilitation and critical care. Over 1,000 children, like Amr, are suffering from brain or spinal injuries or amputated limbs. 'Gaza will be dealing with future generations of kids living with all sorts of disabilities, not just brain, but limb disabilities that are consequences of amputation that could have been prevented if the health system was not under the pressures it is under, wasn't systematically targeted and destroyed as it was,' said Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive care specialist who has volunteered multiple times in Gaza with international medical organizations. A fateful journey north In April, one week before her due date, Amr's mother, Inas, persuaded her husband to visit her parents in northern Gaza. They trekked from the tent they lived in on Gaza's southern coast to the tent where her parents live. They were having an evening meal when the strike hit. Amr's mother and her unborn baby, his grandfather and his brother and sister were killed. Amr was rushed to the ICU at Indonesian Hospital, the largest in northern Gaza. A scan confirmed shrapnel in his brain and reduced brain function. A breathing tube was inserted into his throat. 'He is 3. Why should he bear the weight of a rocket?" his aunt asked. His father, Mohammed, was too stunned to even visit the ICU. His wife had been the love of his life since childhood, the aunt said. He barely spoke. Doctors said Amr needed advanced rehabilitation. But while he was at the hospital, Israeli forces attacked the facility — encircling its premises and causing damage to its communication towers, water supplies and one of its wards. Evacuation orders were issued for the area, and patients were transferred to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Another treacherous journey But Shifa was overwhelmed with mass casualties, and staff asked the family to take Amr south, even though no ambulances or oxygen tanks could be spared. The father and aunt had to take Amr, fresh out of ICU with the tube in his throat, in a motorized rickshaw for the 25-kilometer (15-mile) drive to Nasser Hospital. Amr was in pain, his oxygen levels dropped. He was in and out of consciousness. 'We were reading the Quran all along the road,' said his aunt, praying they would survive the bombings and Amr the bumpy trip without medical care. About halfway, an ambulance arrived. Amr made it to Nasser Hospital with oxygen blood levels so low he was again admitted to ICU. Unable to get the care he needs Still, Nasser Hospital could not provide Amr with everything he needed. Intravenous nutrients are not available, Nasser's head of pediatrics, Dr. Ahmed al-Farra, said. The fortified milk Amr needed disappeared from the market and the hospital after weeks of Israel's blockade. He has lost about half his weight. When he came out of the ICU, Nour shared his bed with him at night and administered his medication. She grinds rice or lentils into a paste to feed him through a syringe connected to his stomach. 'We have starvation in Gaza. There is nothing to eat,' said his aunt, who is a trained nurse. 'There is nothing left.' The care Amr has missed is likely to have long-term effects. Immediate care for brain injuries is critical, Haj-Hassan said, as is follow-up physical and speech therapy. Since the Israeli blockade on Gaza began in March, 317 patients, including 216 children, have left the territory for medical treatment alongside nearly 500 of their companions, according to the World Health Organization. Over 10,000 people, including 2,500 children, await evacuation. Amr is one of them. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of civilian affairs in Gaza, coordinates medical evacuations after receiving requests from countries that will take the patients and security screenings. 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The Herald Scotland
7 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Israel to send negotiators to Qatar for Gaza ceasefire talks
US President Donald Trump has pushed for an agreement and will host Mr Netanyahu at the White House on Monday to discuss a deal. Inside Gaza, Israeli airstrikes killed 14 Palestinians and another 10 were killed while seeking food aid, hospital officials in the embattled enclave said. And two US aid workers with the Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation were injured in an attack at a food distribution site, which the organisation blamed on Hamas, without providing evidence. Weary Palestinians expressed cautious hope after Hamas gave a 'positive' response late Friday to the latest US proposal for a 60-day truce but said further talks were needed on implementation. 'We are tired. Enough starvation, enough closure of crossing points. We want to sleep in calm where we don't hear warplanes or drones or shelling,' said Jamalat Wadi, one of Gaza's hundreds of thousands of displaced people, speaking in Deir al-Balah. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Stoyan Nenov/AP) She squinted in the sun during a summer heat wave of over 30C. Hamas has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas demands of guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war's end, while Mr Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the militant group's destruction. 'Send a delegation with a full mandate to bring a comprehensive agreement to end the war and bring everyone back. No one must be left behind,' Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, told the weekly rally by relatives and supporters in Tel Aviv. Israeli airstrikes struck tents in the crowded Muwasi area on Gaza's Mediterranean coast, killing seven people including a Palestinian doctor and his three children, according to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. Four others were killed in the town of Bani Suheila in southern Gaza. Three people were killed in three strikes in Khan Younis. Israel's army did not immediately comment. Separately, eight Palestinians were killed near a GHF aid distribution site in the southern city of Rafah, the hospital said. One Palestinian was killed near another GHF point in Rafah. It was not clear how far the Palestinians were from the sites. GHF denied the killings happened near their sites. The organisation has said no one has been shot at its sites, which are guarded by private contractors and can be accessed only by passing Israeli military positions hundreds of metres away. The army had no immediate comment but has said it fires warning shots as a crowd-control measure and only aims at people when its troops are threatened. Another Palestinian was killed waiting in crowds for aid trucks in eastern Khan Younis, officials at Nasser Hospital said. 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The GHF, a US- and Israeli-backed initiative meant to bypass the UN, distributes aid from four sites that are surrounded by Israeli troops. Three sites are in Gaza's far south. The UN and other humanitarian groups have rejected the GHF system, saying it allows Israel to use food as a weapon, violates humanitarian principles and is not effective. Israel says Hamas has siphoned off aid delivered by the UN, a claim the UN denies. Hamas has urged Palestinians not to cooperate with the GHF. GHF, 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. Several hundred people have been killed and hundreds more wounded, according to Gaza's Health Ministry and witnesses. The UN human rights office says it has recorded 613 Palestinians killed within a month in Gaza while trying to obtain aid, most of them while trying to reach GHF sites. The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which is led by medical professionals employed by the Hamas government. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but the UN and other international organisations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
Powys County Times
7 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Israel to send negotiators to Qatar for Gaza ceasefire talks
US-led ceasefire efforts in Gaza appeared to gain momentum after nearly 21 months of war, as prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel on Sunday will send a negotiating team to talks in Qatar. The statement also asserted that Hamas was seeking 'unacceptable' changes to the proposal. US President Donald Trump has pushed for an agreement and will host Mr Netanyahu at the White House on Monday to discuss a deal. Inside Gaza, Israeli airstrikes killed 14 Palestinians and another 10 were killed while seeking food aid, hospital officials in the embattled enclave said. And two US aid workers with the Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation were injured in an attack at a food distribution site, which the organisation blamed on Hamas, without providing evidence. Weary Palestinians expressed cautious hope after Hamas gave a 'positive' response late Friday to the latest US proposal for a 60-day truce but said further talks were needed on implementation. 'We are tired. Enough starvation, enough closure of crossing points. We want to sleep in calm where we don't hear warplanes or drones or shelling,' said Jamalat Wadi, one of Gaza's hundreds of thousands of displaced people, speaking in Deir al-Balah. She squinted in the sun during a summer heat wave of over 30C. Hamas has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas demands of guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war's end, while Mr Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the militant group's destruction. 'Send a delegation with a full mandate to bring a comprehensive agreement to end the war and bring everyone back. No one must be left behind,' Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, told the weekly rally by relatives and supporters in Tel Aviv. Israeli airstrikes struck tents in the crowded Muwasi area on Gaza's Mediterranean coast, killing seven people including a Palestinian doctor and his three children, according to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. Four others were killed in the town of Bani Suheila in southern Gaza. Three people were killed in three strikes in Khan Younis. Israel's army did not immediately comment. Separately, eight Palestinians were killed near a GHF aid distribution site in the southern city of Rafah, the hospital said. One Palestinian was killed near another GHF point in Rafah. It was not clear how far the Palestinians were from the sites. GHF denied the killings happened near their sites. The organisation has said no one has been shot at its sites, which are guarded by private contractors and can be accessed only by passing Israeli military positions hundreds of metres away. The army had no immediate comment but has said it fires warning shots as a crowd-control measure and only aims at people when its troops are threatened. Another Palestinian was killed waiting in crowds for aid trucks in eastern Khan Younis, officials at Nasser Hospital said. The United Nations and other international organisations have been bringing in their own supplies of aid since the war began. The incident did not appear to be connected to GHF operations. Much of Gaza's population of over two million now relies on international aid after the war has largely devastated agriculture and other food sources and left many people near famine. Crowds of Palestinians often wait for lorries and unload or loot their contents before they reach their destinations. The lorries must pass through areas under Israeli military control. Israel's military did not immediately comment. The GHF said the two American aid workers were injured on Saturday morning when assailants threw grenades at a distribution site in Khan Younis. The foundation said the injuries were not life-threatening. Israel's military said it evacuated the workers for medical treatment. The GHF, a US- and Israeli-backed initiative meant to bypass the UN, distributes aid from four sites that are surrounded by Israeli troops. Three sites are in Gaza's far south. The UN and other humanitarian groups have rejected the GHF system, saying it allows Israel to use food as a weapon, violates humanitarian principles and is not effective. Israel says Hamas has siphoned off aid delivered by the UN, a claim the UN denies. Hamas has urged Palestinians not to cooperate with the GHF. GHF, 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. Several hundred people have been killed and hundreds more wounded, according to Gaza's Health Ministry and witnesses. The UN human rights office says it has recorded 613 Palestinians killed within a month in Gaza while trying to obtain aid, most of them while trying to reach GHF sites. The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which is led by medical professionals employed by the Hamas government.
