Latest news with #civil defence
Malay Mail
3 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Gaza civil defence: Dozens killed as Israeli troops fire on hungry crowd
GAZA CITY, July 31 — Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 30 people when they opened fire Wednesday on a crowd waiting for humanitarian aid in the north of the Palestinian territory. The Israeli military said it had no knowledge of casualties in the incident north of Gaza City, as the United Nations said that pauses in Israel's offensive against Hamas were not enough to help the population through a deepening hunger crisis. The UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, said that four days into Israel's 'tactical pauses', people were still dying from hunger and malnutrition, alongside casualties among those seeking aid. Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 'at least 30 martyrs were killed' and 300 wounded when Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting for aid north of Gaza City. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said his facility had received 35 bodies from the shooting, which reportedly struck about three kilometres south-west of the Zikim crossing point for aid trucks entering Gaza. The Israeli army said that dozens of Gazans were seen 'gathering around aid trucks in northern Gaza, and in close proximity to IDF (army) troops operating in the area. 'The troops fired warning shots in the area, not directed at the gathering, in response to the threat posed to them. According to an initial inquiry, the IDF is not aware of any casualties as a result of IDF fire. The details of the incident are still being examined.' Hours earlier, 14 Palestinians were killed in four other incidents, three near aid distribution sites, the civil defence agency said. In two of the incidents, the Israeli army said it had fired warning shots. Pauses not enough Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties. Gaza has been in the grip of war for almost 22 months and, according to a UN-mandated report, its two-million-plus inhabitants now face an unfolding famine. The war was triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 60,138 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run government's health ministry. Food aid air-drops Amid an international outcry over Gaza's food crisis, Israel has observed a daytime pause in military operations since the weekend on secure routes and in built-up areas to boost aid delivery and distribution. Air drops of food have also been staged by the Jordanian air force, the United Arab Emirates and Britain. France said it plans to start delivering 40 tonnes of aid from Friday. OCHA said that the conditions for delivering aid were 'far from sufficient' to meet the immense needs of its 'desperate, hungry people'. Israel's pauses alone 'do not allow for the continuous flow of supplies required to meet immense needs levels in Gaza', OCHA said in an update. 'For example, for UN drivers to access the Kerem Shalom crossing — a fenced-off area — Israeli authorities must approve the mission, provide a safe route through which to travel, provide multiple 'green lights' on movement, as well as a pause in bombing, and, ultimately, open the iron gates to allow them to enter.' 'Desperate, hungry people' offload the small amounts of aid from the trucks that are able to exit the crossings, it added. Ceasefire talks halted Amid deadlocked talks on a ceasefire, US special envoy Steve Witkoff was scheduled to visit Israel on Thursday. Witkoff has been involved in indirect ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. The discussions broke down last week when Israel and the United States recalled their delegations from Doha. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel and the United States were 'considering alternative options to bring our hostages home'. Witkoff 'will meet with officials to discuss next steps in addressing the situation in Gaza', a US official told AFP. Arab countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt called this week on Hamas to disarm and end its rule of Gaza, in a bid to end the devastating war. — AFP
News.com.au
9 hours ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
Gaza civil defence says 30 killed in food queue by Israeli fire
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 30 people when they opened fire Wednesday on a crowd waiting for humanitarian aid in the north of the Palestinian territory. The Israeli military said it was reviewing the incident north of Gaza City, as the United Nations said that pauses in Israel's offensive against Hamas were not enough to help the population through a deepening hunger crisis. The UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, said that four days into Israel's "tactical pauses", people were still dying from hunger and malnutrition, alongside casualties among those seeking aid. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that "at least 30 martyrs were killed" as they waited for aid north of Gaza City, and 300 wounded. Bassal said Israeli forces opened fire on the crowd waiting for food. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said his facility had received 35 bodies from the shooting, which reportedly struck about three kilometres (two miles) southwest of the Zikim crossing point for aid trucks entering Gaza. Hours earlier, 14 Palestinians were killed in four other incidents, three near aid distribution sites, the civil defence agency said. In two of the incidents, the Israeli army said it fired warning shots at people approaching the aid sites. - Pauses not enough - While the military did not comment on the incident at Zikim, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office did say that Hamas militants were "stealing" food from the latest deliveries. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties. Gaza has been in the grip of war for almost 22 months and, according to a UN-mandated report, its two-million-plus inhabitants now face an unfolding famine. The war was triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 60,138 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run government's health ministry. - Food aid air-drops - Amid an international outcry over Gaza's food crisis, Israel has observed a daytime pause in military operations since the weekend on secure routes and in built-up areas to boost aid delivery and distribution. Air drops of food have also been staged by the Jordanian air force, the United Arab Emirates and Britain. France said it plans to start delivering 40 tonnes of aid from Friday. OCHA said that the conditions for delivering aid were "far from sufficient" to meet the immense needs of its "desperate, hungry people". Israel's pauses alone "do not allow for the continuous flow of supplies required to meet immense needs levels in Gaza", OCHA said in an update. "For example, for UN drivers to access the Kerem Shalom crossing -- a fenced-off area -- Israeli authorities must approve the mission, provide a safe route through which to travel, provide multiple 'green lights' on movement, as well as a pause in bombing, and, ultimately, open the iron gates to allow them to enter." "Desperate, hungry people" offload the small amounts of aid from the trucks that are able to exit the crossings, it added. - Ceasefire talks halted - Amid deadlocked talks on a ceasefire, US special envoy Steve Witkoff was to visit Israel on Thursday. Witkoff has been involved in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire deal. But the discussions broke down last week when Israel and the United States recalled their delegations from Doha. Netanyahu announced the following day that Israel and the United States were "considering alternative options to bring our hostages home". Witkoff "will meet with officials to discuss next steps in addressing the situation in Gaza", a US official told AFP. Arab countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt called this week on Hamas to disarm and end its rule of Gaza, in a bid to end the devastating war.
France 24
10 hours ago
- Health
- France 24
Israeli troops kill at least 30 Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza's north, civil defence agency says
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces opened fire on Wednesday on Palestinians waiting to collect humanitarian aid in the northern Gaza Strip, giving a preliminary death toll of 30. "At least 30 martyrs were killed ... waiting for aid north of Gaza City," civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding that more than 300 were wounded. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, told AFP his facility received 35 bodies of people killed in the shooting. The shooting reportedly happened near the coast, about three kilometres southwest of the Zikim crossing point for aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip from the north. The Israeli army told AFP the reports were under review. 05:13 The deadly shooting came hours after 14 Palestinians were killed in four other separate incidents in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, three of which occurred near aid distribution sites, the civil defence agency said. In two of these incidents, the army said it had fired warning shots at people approaching the aid sites. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the agency and other parties. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid since May, most near sites run by the Israeli-and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to witnesses, local health officials and the UN human rights office. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approach its forces, and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. The Gaza Strip has been in the grip of war for almost 22 months and now, according to a UN-mandated report, its two-million-plus inhabitants are facing an unfolding famine as Israel continues to restrict the amount of aid entering the besieged territory. A total of 89 children have died of malnutrition since the war began in Gaza. The territory's health ministry said that 65 Palestinian adults have also died of malnutrition-related causes across Gaza since late June, when it started counting deaths among adults. Under heavy international pressure, Israel announced a series of measures over the weekend to facilitate the entry of more international aid to Gaza, but aid workers say much more is needed. International airdrops of aid have also resumed, but many of the parcels have landed in areas that Palestinians have been told to evacuate while others have plunged into the Mediterranean Sea, forcing people to swim out to retrieve drenched bags of flour. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the leading world authority on hunger crises, has stopped short of declaring famine in Gaza but said Tuesday that the situation has dramatically worsened and warned of "widespread death" without immediate action. Israel's Gaza campaign was triggered by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 60,138 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory's health ministry.
France 24
2 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
Live: At least 30 killed in Nuseirat by Israeli strikes, says Gaza civil defence
At least 30 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed by Israeli air strikes in the central Nuseirat district, Gaza's civil defence said Tuesday. The deaths came after France on Monday called on the European Union to pressure Israel to agree to a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments.
France 24
5 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
Gaza civil defence says Israeli fire kills 25
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the dead included nine people killed in three separate air strikes in Gaza City. Eleven people were killed in four separate strikes near the southern city of Khan Yunis, while two were killed in a drone strike in Nuseirat refugee camp, he added. Bassal said three people were killed by Israeli gunfire while waiting for aid in three separate incidents in northern, central and southern Gaza. One of the three was killed "after Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting for humanitarian aid" northwest of Gaza City, the agency said. Witnesses told AFP that several thousand people had gathered in the area. One of them, Abu Samir Hamoudeh, 42, said the Israeli military opened fire "while the people were waiting to approach the distribution point", located near an Israeli military post in the Zikim area, northwest of Sudaniyah. The Israeli military told AFP that its troops fired "warning shots to distance the crowd" after identifying an "immediate threat". The civil defence agency said another man was killed by a drone strike near Khan Yunis, while one was killed by artillery fire in the Al-Bureij camp in central Gaza. The Israeli military said it was continuing its operations in Gaza, adding that it killed members of a "terrorist cell" which it accused of planting an explosive device. It said the air force had "struck over 100 terror targets" across Gaza over the previous 24 hours. Bassal said civil defence teams also recovered the bodies of 12 people following Israeli bombardment north of Rafah the previous night. The recovery operation was conducted in coordination with the UN humanitarian office (OCHA), he said, adding that the bodies were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties. Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza after a deadly attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023. The Israeli campaign has killed 59,676 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Hamas's October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
