Latest news with #GazaHealthMinistry
Straits Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Israeli military orders war crime probe into Gaza shootings, paper says
FILE PHOTO: Mourners react during the funeral of Palestinians who were killed by Israeli fire while trying to receive aid in central Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, at Al-Shifa hospital, in Gaza City, June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo JERUSALEM - Israel's Military Advocate General has ordered an investigation into possible war crimes over allegations that Israeli forces deliberately fired at Palestinian civilians near Gaza aid distribution sites, Haaretz newspaper reported on Friday. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed over the past month in the vicinity of areas where food was being handed out, local hospitals and officials have said. Haaretz, a left-leaning Israeli newspaper, quoted unnamed Israeli soldiers as saying they were told to fire at the crowds to keep them back and using unnecessary lethal force against people who appeared to pose no threat. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for a comment from Reuters about the report. Haaretz quoted a military spokesperson as saying that the army was trying to minimise potential friction between the population and Israeli forces, adding that following reports of civilian harm, the army had conducted investigations and given new instructions to ground forces. Haaretz also quoted unnamed sources as saying that the army unit established to review incidents that may involve breaches of international law had been tasked with examining soldiers' actions near distribution locations over the past month. There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after the nearly two-year-old military campaign by Israel against Hamas militants in Gaza that has reduced much of the enclave to rubble and displaced most of its two million inhabitants. Thousands of people gather around distribution centres desperately awaiting the next deliveries, but there have been near daily reports of shootings and killings on the approach routes. Medics said six people were killed by gunfire on Friday as they sought to get food in southern Gaza Strip. In all, more than 500 people have died near aid centres operated by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) or in areas where U.N. food trucks were set to pass since late May, the Gaza health authorities have said. In response to questions about previous incidents, the Israel military often said troops had fired warning shots over the heads of people to get them to move. It has also said it is reviewing various cases. It has yet to publish its findings. The unnamed Israeli soldiers told Haaretz that military commanders had ordered troops to shoot at the crowds of Palestinians to disperse them and clear the area. During a closed-door meeting with senior Military Advocate General officials this week, legal representatives rejected Israel Defense Forces claims that the incidents were isolated cases, Haaretz reported. There has been widespread confusion about access to the aid, with the army imposing for a time a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew on approach routes to GHF sites. But locals often have to set out well before dawn to have any chance of retrieving food. The Gaza war began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage into the enclave. In response, Israel launched a military campaign that has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to local health authorities in Gaza. The Gaza health ministry said on Friday that at least 72 people were killed and more than 170 wounded by Israeli fire across Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Gulf Today
a day ago
- Politics
- Gulf Today
Spanish PM alleges 'genocide' in Gaza as rescuers say 56 more Palestinians killed by Israeli forces
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday became the most prominent European leader to describe the situation in Gaza as a "genocide," as rescuers in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory said Israeli forces killed 56 people. After more than 20 months of devastating conflict, rights groups say Gaza's population of more than two million face famine-like conditions. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels on Thursday. AP Israel began allowing supplies to trickle in at the end of May following a blockade of more than two months, but distribution has been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on those waiting to collect rations. Spain's Sanchez said Gaza was in a "catastrophic situation of genocide" and urged the European Union to immediately suspend its cooperation deal with Israel. Mourners react near the bodies of Palestinians killed, in what the Gaza Health Ministry said, were overnight Israeli airstrikes on tents sheltering displaced people, at Nasser Hospital. Reuters The comments represent the strongest condemnation to date by Sanchez, an outspoken critic of Israel's offensive who is one of the first European leaders, and the most senior, to use the term "genocide" to describe the situation in Gaza. Speaking ahead of an EU summit in Brussels, Sanchez mentioned an EU report which found "indications" Israel was breaching its rights obligations under the cooperation deal, which forms the basis for trade ties. Mourners react during the funeral of Palestinians who, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, were killed in an Israeli airstrike earlier in the day, in Deir Al Balah. Reuters The text cited Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory, the high number of civilian casualties, attacks on journalists and the massive displacement and destruction caused by the war. The spokesman for Gaza's civil defence agency, Mahmud Bassal, said Israeli forces killed 56 people on Thursday, including six who were waiting for aid in two separate locations. 'Only two girls survived' AFP footage from a hospital in central Gaza on Wednesday showed Palestinians sobbing over bloodied body bags containing their loved ones who had been killed in an Israeli strike. "They (killed) the father, mother and brothers, only two girls survived. One of them is a baby girl aged one year and two months and the other one is five years old," one mourner said. A nurse feeds a prematurely born baby lying in an incubator at the neonatal intensive care unit of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. AP Beyond daily bombardment, Gaza's health ministry says that since late May, nearly 550 people have been killed near aid centres while seeking scarce supplies. The United Nations has condemned the "weaponisation of food" in Gaza, and slammed a US- and Israeli-backed body that has largely replaced established humanitarian organisations there. The privately run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was brought into the territory in late May, but its operations have been marred by chaotic scenes, deaths and neutrality concerns. The GHF denies deadly incidents have occurred in the immediate vicinity of its aid points. Israeli restrictions on media in Gaza and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers and authorities in the territory. Ceasefire push US President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday that "I think great progress is being made on Gaza" to end the Israel-Hamas war. He linked his optimism about imminent "very good news" to a ceasefire agreed Tuesday between Israel and Hamas's backer Iran to end their 12-day war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces growing calls from opposition politicians, relatives of hostages being held in Gaza and even members of his ruling coalition to bring an end to the fighting. Key mediator Qatar said this week it would launch a new push for a ceasefire. Hamas official Taher Al Nunu on Wednesday said talks with mediators had "intensified" but said the group had "not yet received any new proposals" to end the war. Agence France-Presse
Euronews
2 days ago
- Health
- Euronews
Mothers and doctors in Gaza say formula shortages risk babies' lives
Seham Fawzy Khodeir watched as her son lay inside a dilapidated incubator and listened to his faint cry, mixed with the muted sound of the equipment. The mother of six was increasingly concerned about the survival of Hisham al-Lahham, who was just days old, breathing with the help of equipment and being fed through a tube in his tiny nose. Most alarming is that the medical-grade formula he needs to survive is running out. 'There is no milk,' the 24-year-old mother told The Associated Press. He needs it to "to get better, to live, and to see life'. Hisham is among 580 premature babies at risk of death from starvation across the war-battered Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Khodeir and others blame Israel's blockade for the plight of their children. Doctors say that although some formula has been delivered, the situation is dire. 'These babies have no time… and no voice,' said Dr Ahmed al-Farah, head of the pediatrics and obstetrics department at Nasser Hospital, the main medical facility still partially functional in southern Gaza. For these babies in Gaza, 'an avoidable disaster' Khodeir's son is one of 10 babies in incubators at Nasser's neonatal intensive care unit. Last week, al-Farah rang the alarm, saying the hospital's stock of medical-grade formula was 'completely depleted'. He said the tiny babies who relied on it would face 'an avoidable disaster' in two to three days. His pleas were answered, in part, by the delivery of 20 boxes of formula sent over the weekend by a US aid group, Rahma Worldwide. The new delivery is enough to cover the needs for the 10 infants for up to two weeks, al-Farah said. Al-Farah, however, expressed concern about future deliveries, saying that it wasn't guaranteed that more formula would be allowed into Gaza. 'This is not enough at all,' he said. 'It solved the problem temporarily, but what we need is a permanent solution: Lift the siege'. Meanwhile, the fortified formula required for newborns is already out of stock at Al-Rantisi Hospital in Gaza City, its director, Dr Jamil Suliman, said. 'Many mothers are unable to breastfeed due to severe malnutrition,' he said, warning of a looming crisis. Infants are among the hardest hit by Israel's blockade, which started on March 2 with the complete ban of any food, water, shelter, or medication. Under mounting international pressure and repeated warnings of famine from the United Nations, Israel began allowing what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called 'minimal' aid, starting May 19. Since then, more than 1,000 tonnes of baby food, including formula, have entered Gaza, according to COGAT, the Israeli defense agency in charge of aid coordination in the Palestinian territory. 'Food for babies is certainly entering [the Gaza Strip], as the organisations are requesting it we are approving it, and there is no withholding of food for babies,' a COGAT spokesperson said. But Gaza's health officials say that for these babies, that aid hasn't included enough critical medicine, formula, medical equipment, and spare parts to keep the existing equipment operational. Israel has defended its blockade Israel has said the blockade aims to pressure Hamas into releasing the 50 hostages it still holds from its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that sparked the war. Fewer than half are still believed to be alive. Israel has accused Hamas of siphoning aid, without providing evidence. The United Nations says there's been no significant diversion of aid. Militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage on Oct. 7. Most of the hostages have been released by ceasefire agreements. The war has unleashed unrelenting destruction, with more than 56,000 Palestinians killed and more than 131,00 wounded in Israel's offensive, according to Gaza health officials. The officials don't distinguish between combatants and civilians but say more than half the casualties are women and children. A crisis at Gaza's hospitals The war and the blockade have sparked a humanitarian crisis, creating shortages of the most basic necessities and pushing Gaza's health care system to the brink of collapse. Seventeen of the enclave's 36 hospitals remain partially functioning, providing health care to more than 2 million people amid bombings, rising malnutrition rates and dwindling medical supplies. "Starvation is increasing," said Jonathan Whittall, head of the U.N.'s humanitarian affairs office for the occupied Palestinian territories. More than 110 children have been admitted for treatment for malnutrition every day since the start of this year, he said. Human Rights Watch said in a recent report that all medical facilities in Gaza are operating in unsanitary and overcrowded conditions and have serious shortages of essential health care goods, including medicine and vaccines. The Health Ministry has repeatedly warned that medical supplies and fuel were running out at hospitals, which use fuel-powered generators amid crippling power outages. Calling for a lift on the blockade, Whittall said hospitals were forced to ration the little fuel they have 'to prevent a complete shutdown of more life-saving services'. Nasser Hospital was forced to cut off electricity for some departments, despite the nonstop flow of patients, as part of a plan to save fuel, said Ismail Abu-Nimer, head of engineering and maintenance. Supplies have been running out amid the influx of wounded people, many coming from areas close to aid distribution centers, said Dr Mohammad Saqer, Nasser's director of nursing. 'The situation here is terrifying, immoral, and inhumane,' he said.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Israeli attacks kill at least 21 people in Gaza, medics say
Mourners pray as they attend the funeral of Palestinians killed, in what the Gaza Health Ministry said, were overnight Israeli airstrikes on tents sheltering displaced people, at Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, June 26, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinians killed, in what the Gaza Health Ministry said, were overnight Israeli airstrikes on tents sheltering displaced people, at Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, June 26, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinians killed, in what the Gaza Health Ministry said, were overnight Israeli airstrikes on tents sheltering displaced people, at Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, June 26, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled Mourners pray as they attend the funeral of Palestinians killed, in what the Gaza Health Ministry said, were overnight Israeli airstrikes on tents sheltering displaced people, at Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, June 26, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled CAIRO - Israeli gunfire and airstrikes killed at least 21 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, local health authorities said, as mediators reached out to Israel and Hamas to seek a resumption of ceasefire talks to end the war. Local health authorities said an Israeli airstrike killed at least nine people at a school housing displaced families in the Sheikh Radwan suburb in Gaza City, while another strike killed nine people near a tent encampment in Khan Younis in the south of the enclave. Three other people were killed by Israeli gunfire and dozens were wounded as crowds awaited U.N. aid trucks along a main route in central Gaza, medics said, the latest in a series of multiple fatalities at aid distribution points. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Thursday's incidents. Israel says it is seeking to eliminate militants from Hamas, which attacked southern Israel from Gaza in 2023, and free hostages still held by the group. The new deaths come as Arab mediators, Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, reached out to the warring parties in a bid to hold new ceasefire talks, but no exact time was set for a new round, according to Hamas sources. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a coalition with far-right parties, insists that Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, release all hostages, relinquish any role and lay down its weapons to end to the war. Hamas, in turn, has stated it would release the hostages if Israel agrees to a permanent ceasefire and withdraws from Gaza. While it has conceded it would no longer govern Gaza, Hamas has refused to discuss disarmament. Hamas-led militants killed close to 1,200 people and took 251 hostages when they attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023, according to tallies from Israel, which launched a huge military campaign in response. Israel's retaliatory war has so far killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, and destroyed much of the coastal strip. Most of the hostages released so far have been freed through indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
San Francisco Chronicle
3 days ago
- Health
- San Francisco Chronicle
Doctors and moms say these babies in Gaza may die without more formula. They blame Israel's blockade
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Seham Fawzy Khodeir watches as her son lies inside a dilapidated incubator and listens to his faint cry, mixed with the muted sound of the equipment. The mother of six is increasingly concerned about the survival of Hisham al-Lahham, who was just days old, breathing with the help of equipment and being fed through a tube in his tiny nose. Most alarming is that the medical-grade formula he needs to survive is running out. 'There is no milk,' the 24-year-old mother told The Associated Press. He needs it to "to get better, to live and to see life.' Hisham is among 580 premature babies at risk of death from starvation across the war-battered Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Khodeir and others blame Israel's blockade for the plight of their children. Doctors say that although some formula has been delivered, the situation is dire. Their desperation comes as the war in Gaza has been overshadowed by the Israel-Iran war. 'These babies have no time … and no voice,' said Dr. Ahmed al-Farah, head of the pediatrics and obstetrics department at Nasser Hospital, the main medical facility still partially functional in southern Gaza. For these babies in Gaza, 'an avoidable disaster' Khodeir's son is one of 10 babies in incubators at Nasser's neonatal intensive care unit. Last week, al-Farah rang the alarm, saying the hospital's stock of medical-grade formula was 'completely depleted.' He said the tiny babies who relied on it would face 'an avoidable disaster' in two to three days. His pleas were answered, in part, by the delivery of 20 boxes of formula sent over the weekend by a U.S. aid group, Rahma Worldwide. The new delivery is enough to cover the needs for the 10 infants for up to two weeks, al-Farah said. Al-Farah, however, expressed concern about future deliveries, saying that it wasn't guaranteed that more formula would be allowed into Gaza. 'This is not enough at all,' he said. 'It solved the problem temporarily, but what we need is a permeant solution: Lift the siege.' Meanwhile, fortified formula required for newborns is already out of stock at Al-Rantisi Hospital in Gaza City, its director, Dr. Jamil Suliman, said. 'Many mothers are unable to breastfeed due to severe malnutrition,' he said, warning of a looming crisis. Infants are among the hardest hit by Israel's blockade, which started on March 2 with the complete ban of any food, water, shelter or medication. Under mounting international pressure and repeated warnings of famine from the United Nations, Israel began allowing what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called 'minimal' aid, starting May 19. Since then, more than 1,000 tons of baby food, including formula, have entered Gaza, according to COGAT, the Israeli defense agency in charge of aid coordination in the Palestinian territory. 'Food for babies is certainly entering (the Gaza Strip), as the organizations are requesting it we are approving it, and there is no withholding of food for babies,' a COGAT spokesperson said. But Gaza's health officials say that for these babies, that aid hasn't included enough critical medicine, formula, medical equipment, and spare parts to keep the existing equipment operational. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said in a report Monday that fortified infant formula was nearly depleted from local markets, with several types already completely out of stock. 'Any limited quantities available in some pharmacies are being sold at skyrocketing prices, far beyond the purchasing power of most families,' it said. COGAT said the baby food is being distributed mostly through international organizations — not via the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed private contractor that has drawn criticism from other groups. Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces have opened fire on crowds heading to GHF sites. The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots. Israel has defended its blockade Israel has said the blockade aims to pressure Hamas into releasing the 50 hostages it still holds from its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that sparked the war. Fewer than half are still believed to be alive. Israel has accused Hamas of siphoning aid, without providing evidence. The United Nations says there's been no significant diversion of aid. Militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage on Oct. 7. Most of the hostages have been released by ceasefire agreements. The war has unleashed unrelenting destruction, with more than 56,000 Palestinians killed and more than 131,00 wounded in Israel's offensive, according to Gaza health officials. The officials don't distinguish between combatants and civilians but say more than half the casualties are women and children. The war and the blockade have sparked a humanitarian crisis, creating shortages of the most basic necessities and pushing Gaza's health care system to the brink of collapse. Seventeen of the enclave's 36 hospitals remain partially functioning, providing health care to more than 2 million people amid bombings, rising malnutrition rates and dwindling medical supplies. "Starvation is increasing," said Jonathan Whittall, head of the U.N.'s humanitarian affairs office for the occupied Palestinian territories. More than 110 children have been admitted for treatment for malnutrition every day since the start of this year, he said. 'Our warehouses stand empty while Israel restricts shipments to minimal quantities of mainly medical supplies and food,' Whittall added. A crisis at Gaza's hospitals Human Rights Watch said in a recent report that all medical facilities in Gaza are operating in unsanitary and overcrowded conditions and have serious shortages of essential health care goods, including medicine and vaccines. 'Since the start of the hostilities in Gaza, women and girls are going through pregnancy lacking basic health care, sanitation, water, and food,' said Belkis Wille, associate crisis, conflict and arms director at Human Rights Watch. 'They and their newborns are at constant risk of preventable death.' The Health Ministry has repeatedly warned that medical supplies and fuel were running out at hospitals, which use fuel-powered generators amid crippling power outages. Whittall said hospitals were forced to ration the little fuel they have 'to prevent a complete shutdown of more life-saving services.' 'Unless the total blockade on fuel entering Gaza is lifted, we will face more senseless and preventable death," he said. Nasser Hospital was forced to cut off electricity for some departments, despite the nonstop flow of patients, as part of a plan to save fuel, said Ismail Abu-Nimer, head of engineering and maintenance. 'The situation here is terrifying, immoral, and inhumane,' he said. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo. Melanie Lidman contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel.
