At least 36 shot dead near Gaza food site: hospital
The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots at suspects who approached its troops after they did not heed calls to stop, about a kilometre away from an aid distribution site that was not active at the time.
Gaza Strip resident Mohammed al-Khalidi said he was in the group approaching the site and heard no warnings before the firing began.
"We thought they came out to organise us so we can get aid, suddenly (I) saw the jeeps coming from one side, and the tanks from the other and started shooting at us," he said.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed group which runs the aid site, said there were no incidents or fatalities there on Saturday and that it has repeatedly warned people not to travel to its distribution points in the dark.
"The reported IDF (Israel Defence Forces) activity resulting in fatalities occurred hours before our sites opened and our understanding is most of the casualties occurred several kilometres away from the nearest GHF site," it said.
The Israeli military said it was reviewing the incident.
GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into the Gaza Strip, largely bypassing a United Nations-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians.
Hamas denies the accusation.
The UN has called the GHF's model unsafe and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards, which GHF denies.
On Tuesday, the UN rights office in Geneva said it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks in the vicinity of aid sites and food convoys in the Gaza Strip - the majority of them close to GHF distribution points.
Most of those deaths were caused by gunfire that locals have blamed on the Israeli military.
The military has acknowledged that civilians were harmed, saying that Israeli forces had been issued new instructions with "lessons learned".
At least 50 more people were killed in other Israeli attacks across the enclave on Saturday, health officials said, including one strike that killed the head of the Hamas-run police force in Nuseirat in the centre of the Gaza Strip and 11 of his family members.
The Israeli military said that it had struck militants' weapon depots and sniping posts in a few locations in the enclave.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people, mostly civilians and taking 251 hostages back to the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in the strip has since killed about 58,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis, leaving much of the territory in ruins.
Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a US-proposed 60-day ceasefire and a hostage deal mediated by Egypt and Qatar, although there has been no sign of any imminent breakthrough.
At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages are believed to still be alive.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was kidnapped from his kibbutz home and is held by Hamas, urged Israel's leaders to make a deal with the militant group.
"An entire people wants to bring all 50 hostages home and end the war," Zangauker said in a statement outside Israel's defence headquarters in Tel Aviv.
"My Matan is alone in the tunnels," she said, "He has no more time".
At least 36 people have been killed by Israeli fire while they were on their way to an aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip at dawn, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots at suspects who approached its troops after they did not heed calls to stop, about a kilometre away from an aid distribution site that was not active at the time.
Gaza Strip resident Mohammed al-Khalidi said he was in the group approaching the site and heard no warnings before the firing began.
"We thought they came out to organise us so we can get aid, suddenly (I) saw the jeeps coming from one side, and the tanks from the other and started shooting at us," he said.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed group which runs the aid site, said there were no incidents or fatalities there on Saturday and that it has repeatedly warned people not to travel to its distribution points in the dark.
"The reported IDF (Israel Defence Forces) activity resulting in fatalities occurred hours before our sites opened and our understanding is most of the casualties occurred several kilometres away from the nearest GHF site," it said.
The Israeli military said it was reviewing the incident.
GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into the Gaza Strip, largely bypassing a United Nations-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians.
Hamas denies the accusation.
The UN has called the GHF's model unsafe and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards, which GHF denies.
On Tuesday, the UN rights office in Geneva said it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks in the vicinity of aid sites and food convoys in the Gaza Strip - the majority of them close to GHF distribution points.
Most of those deaths were caused by gunfire that locals have blamed on the Israeli military.
The military has acknowledged that civilians were harmed, saying that Israeli forces had been issued new instructions with "lessons learned".
At least 50 more people were killed in other Israeli attacks across the enclave on Saturday, health officials said, including one strike that killed the head of the Hamas-run police force in Nuseirat in the centre of the Gaza Strip and 11 of his family members.
The Israeli military said that it had struck militants' weapon depots and sniping posts in a few locations in the enclave.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people, mostly civilians and taking 251 hostages back to the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in the strip has since killed about 58,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis, leaving much of the territory in ruins.
Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a US-proposed 60-day ceasefire and a hostage deal mediated by Egypt and Qatar, although there has been no sign of any imminent breakthrough.
At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages are believed to still be alive.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was kidnapped from his kibbutz home and is held by Hamas, urged Israel's leaders to make a deal with the militant group.
"An entire people wants to bring all 50 hostages home and end the war," Zangauker said in a statement outside Israel's defence headquarters in Tel Aviv.
"My Matan is alone in the tunnels," she said, "He has no more time".
At least 36 people have been killed by Israeli fire while they were on their way to an aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip at dawn, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots at suspects who approached its troops after they did not heed calls to stop, about a kilometre away from an aid distribution site that was not active at the time.
Gaza Strip resident Mohammed al-Khalidi said he was in the group approaching the site and heard no warnings before the firing began.
"We thought they came out to organise us so we can get aid, suddenly (I) saw the jeeps coming from one side, and the tanks from the other and started shooting at us," he said.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed group which runs the aid site, said there were no incidents or fatalities there on Saturday and that it has repeatedly warned people not to travel to its distribution points in the dark.
"The reported IDF (Israel Defence Forces) activity resulting in fatalities occurred hours before our sites opened and our understanding is most of the casualties occurred several kilometres away from the nearest GHF site," it said.
The Israeli military said it was reviewing the incident.
GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into the Gaza Strip, largely bypassing a United Nations-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians.
Hamas denies the accusation.
The UN has called the GHF's model unsafe and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards, which GHF denies.
On Tuesday, the UN rights office in Geneva said it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks in the vicinity of aid sites and food convoys in the Gaza Strip - the majority of them close to GHF distribution points.
Most of those deaths were caused by gunfire that locals have blamed on the Israeli military.
The military has acknowledged that civilians were harmed, saying that Israeli forces had been issued new instructions with "lessons learned".
At least 50 more people were killed in other Israeli attacks across the enclave on Saturday, health officials said, including one strike that killed the head of the Hamas-run police force in Nuseirat in the centre of the Gaza Strip and 11 of his family members.
The Israeli military said that it had struck militants' weapon depots and sniping posts in a few locations in the enclave.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people, mostly civilians and taking 251 hostages back to the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in the strip has since killed about 58,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis, leaving much of the territory in ruins.
Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a US-proposed 60-day ceasefire and a hostage deal mediated by Egypt and Qatar, although there has been no sign of any imminent breakthrough.
At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages are believed to still be alive.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was kidnapped from his kibbutz home and is held by Hamas, urged Israel's leaders to make a deal with the militant group.
"An entire people wants to bring all 50 hostages home and end the war," Zangauker said in a statement outside Israel's defence headquarters in Tel Aviv.
"My Matan is alone in the tunnels," she said, "He has no more time".
At least 36 people have been killed by Israeli fire while they were on their way to an aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip at dawn, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots at suspects who approached its troops after they did not heed calls to stop, about a kilometre away from an aid distribution site that was not active at the time.
Gaza Strip resident Mohammed al-Khalidi said he was in the group approaching the site and heard no warnings before the firing began.
"We thought they came out to organise us so we can get aid, suddenly (I) saw the jeeps coming from one side, and the tanks from the other and started shooting at us," he said.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed group which runs the aid site, said there were no incidents or fatalities there on Saturday and that it has repeatedly warned people not to travel to its distribution points in the dark.
"The reported IDF (Israel Defence Forces) activity resulting in fatalities occurred hours before our sites opened and our understanding is most of the casualties occurred several kilometres away from the nearest GHF site," it said.
The Israeli military said it was reviewing the incident.
GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into the Gaza Strip, largely bypassing a United Nations-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians.
Hamas denies the accusation.
The UN has called the GHF's model unsafe and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards, which GHF denies.
On Tuesday, the UN rights office in Geneva said it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks in the vicinity of aid sites and food convoys in the Gaza Strip - the majority of them close to GHF distribution points.
Most of those deaths were caused by gunfire that locals have blamed on the Israeli military.
The military has acknowledged that civilians were harmed, saying that Israeli forces had been issued new instructions with "lessons learned".
At least 50 more people were killed in other Israeli attacks across the enclave on Saturday, health officials said, including one strike that killed the head of the Hamas-run police force in Nuseirat in the centre of the Gaza Strip and 11 of his family members.
The Israeli military said that it had struck militants' weapon depots and sniping posts in a few locations in the enclave.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people, mostly civilians and taking 251 hostages back to the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in the strip has since killed about 58,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis, leaving much of the territory in ruins.
Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a US-proposed 60-day ceasefire and a hostage deal mediated by Egypt and Qatar, although there has been no sign of any imminent breakthrough.
At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages are believed to still be alive.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was kidnapped from his kibbutz home and is held by Hamas, urged Israel's leaders to make a deal with the militant group.
"An entire people wants to bring all 50 hostages home and end the war," Zangauker said in a statement outside Israel's defence headquarters in Tel Aviv.
"My Matan is alone in the tunnels," she said, "He has no more time".
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Sydney Morning Herald
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- Sydney Morning Herald
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The Age
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The country must increase and realign its funding to address and anticipate global health challenges more effectively, the report said. "Despite commendable efforts, Australia's investment in global health research lags behind its international peers," it said. "Key areas such as the impact of climate change on health, antimicrobial resistance, and pandemic preparedness are notably underfunded." Alliance executive director Selina Namchee Lo said the global scientific community was successful in rapidly delivering vaccines and treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic. But where it fell short was equity, with some of the hardest-hit countries missing out. "What we're saying is equity is not optional for global health," Dr Lo told AAP. Another report, also commissioned by the alliance with Pacific Friends of Global Health, detailed the impact of two Australian-backed global public private partnerships in the Indo-Pacific. Australia has collectively poured more than $2.5 billion into The Global Fund and Gavi since 2000, helping to immunise more than 100 million children and save lives in the region. But the country's level of foreign aid has been been in "significant decline" since 2012, stagnating at $US3 billion annually over the past seven years. The multilateral aid landscape is "under pressure" after the US and UK reduced their commitments, the report said. It comes after US President Donald Trump's administration dismantled the US Agency for International Development, cutting funding to its aid programs worldwide. Dr Lo, who has nearly three decades experience in global and international health, said the abrupt exit of USAID left communities "in the lurch". "It's never good to have one group, whether it's a philanthropist or a country, be a monopoly," she said. "Because when they pull out, this is what happens." The Indo-Pacific still accounts for 25 per cent of global infections, with 6.7 million people in the region living with HIV and malaria rampant in Papua New Guinea. Pacific Friends of Global Health chair Brendan Crabb wants Australia to take up the mantle. "As the US administration dramatically steps back from global health leadership, Australia has a critical opportunity to convene and partner with Asia Pacific countries to advance the health priorities of the region," the Burnet Institute chief executive said. Australia must come to the party with more money to combat climate-related health issues, antimicrobial resistance and future pandemics. That's the bottom line of research that indicates the well-off nation is not pulling enough weight on the world stage to understand, anticipate and respond to emerging international health threats. The Australian government spent just under $630 billion on health between 2017 and 2023, according to a report commissioned by the Australian Global Health Alliance. About $35 billion was directed to health and medical research but just $2 billion was specifically set aside for global research. The country must increase and realign its funding to address and anticipate global health challenges more effectively, the report said. "Despite commendable efforts, Australia's investment in global health research lags behind its international peers," it said. "Key areas such as the impact of climate change on health, antimicrobial resistance, and pandemic preparedness are notably underfunded." Alliance executive director Selina Namchee Lo said the global scientific community was successful in rapidly delivering vaccines and treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic. But where it fell short was equity, with some of the hardest-hit countries missing out. "What we're saying is equity is not optional for global health," Dr Lo told AAP. Another report, also commissioned by the alliance with Pacific Friends of Global Health, detailed the impact of two Australian-backed global public private partnerships in the Indo-Pacific. Australia has collectively poured more than $2.5 billion into The Global Fund and Gavi since 2000, helping to immunise more than 100 million children and save lives in the region. But the country's level of foreign aid has been been in "significant decline" since 2012, stagnating at $US3 billion annually over the past seven years. The multilateral aid landscape is "under pressure" after the US and UK reduced their commitments, the report said. It comes after US President Donald Trump's administration dismantled the US Agency for International Development, cutting funding to its aid programs worldwide. Dr Lo, who has nearly three decades experience in global and international health, said the abrupt exit of USAID left communities "in the lurch". "It's never good to have one group, whether it's a philanthropist or a country, be a monopoly," she said. "Because when they pull out, this is what happens." The Indo-Pacific still accounts for 25 per cent of global infections, with 6.7 million people in the region living with HIV and malaria rampant in Papua New Guinea. Pacific Friends of Global Health chair Brendan Crabb wants Australia to take up the mantle. "As the US administration dramatically steps back from global health leadership, Australia has a critical opportunity to convene and partner with Asia Pacific countries to advance the health priorities of the region," the Burnet Institute chief executive said. Australia must come to the party with more money to combat climate-related health issues, antimicrobial resistance and future pandemics. That's the bottom line of research that indicates the well-off nation is not pulling enough weight on the world stage to understand, anticipate and respond to emerging international health threats. The Australian government spent just under $630 billion on health between 2017 and 2023, according to a report commissioned by the Australian Global Health Alliance. About $35 billion was directed to health and medical research but just $2 billion was specifically set aside for global research. The country must increase and realign its funding to address and anticipate global health challenges more effectively, the report said. "Despite commendable efforts, Australia's investment in global health research lags behind its international peers," it said. "Key areas such as the impact of climate change on health, antimicrobial resistance, and pandemic preparedness are notably underfunded." Alliance executive director Selina Namchee Lo said the global scientific community was successful in rapidly delivering vaccines and treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic. But where it fell short was equity, with some of the hardest-hit countries missing out. "What we're saying is equity is not optional for global health," Dr Lo told AAP. Another report, also commissioned by the alliance with Pacific Friends of Global Health, detailed the impact of two Australian-backed global public private partnerships in the Indo-Pacific. Australia has collectively poured more than $2.5 billion into The Global Fund and Gavi since 2000, helping to immunise more than 100 million children and save lives in the region. But the country's level of foreign aid has been been in "significant decline" since 2012, stagnating at $US3 billion annually over the past seven years. The multilateral aid landscape is "under pressure" after the US and UK reduced their commitments, the report said. It comes after US President Donald Trump's administration dismantled the US Agency for International Development, cutting funding to its aid programs worldwide. Dr Lo, who has nearly three decades experience in global and international health, said the abrupt exit of USAID left communities "in the lurch". "It's never good to have one group, whether it's a philanthropist or a country, be a monopoly," she said. "Because when they pull out, this is what happens." The Indo-Pacific still accounts for 25 per cent of global infections, with 6.7 million people in the region living with HIV and malaria rampant in Papua New Guinea. Pacific Friends of Global Health chair Brendan Crabb wants Australia to take up the mantle. "As the US administration dramatically steps back from global health leadership, Australia has a critical opportunity to convene and partner with Asia Pacific countries to advance the health priorities of the region," the Burnet Institute chief executive said.
