Latest news with #GazaMedics
Al Arabiya
18 hours ago
- Health
- Al Arabiya
Israel sends tanks into Gaza's Deir al-Balah, raising concerns among hostages' families
Israeli tanks pushed into southern and eastern areas of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah for the first time on Monday, an area where Israeli sources said the military believes some of the remaining hostages may be being held. Gaza medics said at least three Palestinians were killed and several were wounded in tank shelling that hit eight houses and three mosques in the area, and which came a day after the military ordered residents to leave, saying it planned to fight Hamas militants. For the latest updates on the Israel-Palestine conflict, visit our dedicated page. The raid and bombardment pushed dozens of families who had remained to flee and head west towards the coastal area of Deir al-Balah and nearby Khan Younis. In Khan Younis, earlier on Monday, an Israeli airstrike killed at least five people, including a man, his wife, and their two children, in a tent, medics said. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis incidents. Israel's military said it had not entered the districts of Deir al-Balah subject to the evacuation order during the current conflict and that it was continuing 'to operate with great force to destroy the enemy's capabilities and terrorist infrastructure in the area." Israeli sources have said the reason the army has so far stayed out is that they suspect Hamas might be holding hostages there. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in captivity in Gaza are believed to be still alive. Families of the hostages expressed their concern for their relatives and demanded an explanation from the army of how it would protect them. Hunger crisis The military escalation comes as Gaza health officials warned of potential 'mass deaths' in the coming days due to mounting hunger, which has killed at least 19 people since Saturday, according to the territory's health ministry. Health officials said hospitals were running out of fuel, food aid, and medicine, risking a halt to vital operations. Health ministry spokesperson, Khalil afl-Deqran, said medical staff have been depending on one meal a day, and that hundreds of people flock to hospitals every day, suffering from fatigue and exhaustion because of hunger. At least 67 people were killed by Israeli fire on Sunday as they waited for UN aid trucks to enter Gaza. Israel's military said its troops had fired warning shots towards a crowd of thousands of people in northern Gaza to remove what it said was 'an immediate threat.' It said initial findings suggested reported casualty figures were inflated, and it 'certainly does not intentionally target humanitarian aid trucks.' The new raid and escalating number of fatalities appeared to be complicating ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel that are being mediated by Qatar and Egypt, with US backing. A Hamas official told Reuters on Sunday that the militant group was angered over the mounting deaths and the hunger crisis in the enclave, and that this could badly affect ceasefire talks underway in Qatar. Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a 60-day truce and hostage deal, although there has been no sign of breakthrough. UNRWA, the UN refugee agency dedicated to Palestinians, said in a post on X on Monday, it was receiving desperate messages from Gaza warning of starvation, including from its own staff as food prices have increased 40-fold. 'Meanwhile, just outside Gaza, stockpiled in warehouses UNRWA has enough food for the entire population for over three months. Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale,' it said. Israel's military said on Sunday that it 'views the transfer of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as a matter of utmost importance, and works to enable and facilitate its entry in coordination with the international community.' The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis.
Japan Times
20-06-2025
- General
- Japan Times
As death toll rises, Gazans make life-risking journeys to seek food
Like thousands of other Palestinians in Gaza, Hind Al-Nawajha takes a dangerous, kilometers-long journey every day to try to get some food for her family, hoping she makes it back alive. Accompanied by her sister, Mazouza, the mother-of-four had to duck down and hide behind a pile of rubble on the side of the road as gunshots echoed nearby. "You either come back carrying (food) for your children and they will be happy, or you come back in a shroud, or you go back upset (without food) and your children will cry," said Nawajha, 38, a resident of Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza. "This is life, we are being slaughtered, we can't do it anymore." In the past two days, dozens of Palestinians have also been killed by Israeli fire as they tried to get food from aid trucks brought into the enclave by the United Nations and international relief agencies, Gaza medics said. On Thursday, medics said at least 40 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes, including 12 people who tried to approach a site operated by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the central Gaza Strip, the latest in near-daily reports of killings of people seeking food. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire as they tried to get food from aid trucks brought into the enclave, Gaza medics said. | bloomberg Twenty-eight people were killed in separate Israeli airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip, medics said. One of those strikes killed at least 12 people, including women and children, near a mosque in Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, they added. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on Thursday's incident. In recent days, the Israeli military said its forces had opened fire and fired warning shots to disperse people who approached areas where troops were operating, posing a threat. It said it was reviewing reports of casualties among civilians. Israel has been channeling much of the aid it is now allowing into Gaza through a new U.S.— and Israeli-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces. The Gaza health ministry said hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to reach GHF sites since late May. The United Nations rejects the GHF delivery system as inadequate, dangerous and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules. Israel says it is needed to prevent Hamas fighters from diverting aid, which Hamas denies. Women mourn during a funeral for Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in Gaza on Thursday. | REUTERS There was no immediate GHF comment on Thursday's incident. On Wednesday, the GHF said in a statement it had distributed 3 million meals across three of its aid sites without an incident. The Gaza war was triggered when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than 2 million and causing a hunger crisis. The Norwegian Refugee Council warned on Thursday that more than 1 million people were without adequate shelter, saying equipment such as tents and tarpaulins had been blocked by Israel from entering since March 1. Nawajha returned empty-handed on Wednesday from her journey to find food, flopping down exhausted on the dusty ground outside the tent in Gaza City, where she has been displaced and sheltering with her family. She and her sister have been camping by the road for the past 20 days. They say they try to force their way into the distribution site where trucks carrying aid arrive, but are often outmuscled by men, who sometimes fight over sacks of flour coming off U.N. trucks. "(When) there is no food, as you can see, children start crying and getting angry," said Nawajha. "When we are for three, four kilometers or more on our legs ... Oh my ... our feet are bruised and our shoes are torn off."
The Guardian
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Susan Sarandon among hundreds to urge BBC to release delayed Gaza film
Oscar winning actor Susan Sarandon and British filmmaker Mike Leigh are among hundreds of figures from the cultural world accusing the BBC of censoring 'Palestinian voices', after its decision to delay the broadcast of a documentary on medics in Gaza. Tim Davie, the BBC's director general, has received an open letter signed by more than 600 industry figures – including some of his own employees – stating that editorial caution over the subject has spilled over into 'political suppression'. The signatories demand the immediate release of Gaza: Medics Under Fire, claiming it has undergone extensive editorial reviews and fact-checking and has been ready for broadcast for months. 'Every day this film is delayed, the BBC fails in its commitment to inform the public, fails in its journalistic responsibility to report the truth, and fails in its duty of care to these brave contributors,' the letter states. 'No news organisation should quietly decide behind closed doors whose stories are worth telling. This important film should be seen by the public, and its contributors' bravery honoured.' The BBC has said the programme's airing had been delayed while it investigates the production of another documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, which was pulled from iPlayer after it emerged its young narrator was the son of a Hamas official. There are concerns among some BBC staff that the corporation has become paralysed over its handling of the issue. Gaza: Medics Under Fire was produced by a team including Ben de Pear, a former editor of Channel 4 News. Other notable signatories of the letter demanding its release include Game of Thrones star Indira Varma, as well as fellow actors Harriet Walter, Miriam Margolyes, Maxine Peake and Juliet Stevenson. NHS doctors involved in helping to set up the film are said to be among those concerned about the delay. Basement Films, the production company behind the programme, has already expressed its disappointment. 'We gathered searing testimony from multiple Palestinian doctors and healthcare workers,' it said. 'We are desperate for a confirmed release date in order to be able to tell the surviving doctors and medics when their stories will be told.' It remains unclear when the BBC will conclude its internal review into the making of Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone. Samir Shah, the BBC's chair, said the failings in making the programme had been a 'dagger to the heart' of the corporation's claims of trustworthiness and impartiality. The BBC has been contacted for comment.
