Gaza rescuers say Israel fire kills 36, six of them near aid centre
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 36 Palestinians on Saturday, six of them in a shooting near a US-backed aid distribution centre.
The Israeli military told AFP that troops had fired "warning shots" at individuals that it said were "advancing in a way that endangered the troops".
The shooting deaths were the latest reported near the aid centre run by the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) in the southern district of Rafah and came after it resumed distributions following a brief suspension in the wake of similar deaths earlier this week.
Meanwhile, an aid boat with 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, was nearing Gaza in a bid to highlight the plight of Palestinians in the face of an Israeli blockade that has only been partially eased.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that at around 7:00 am (0400 GMT), "six people were killed and several others wounded by the forces of the Israeli occupation near the Al-Alam roundabout", where they had gathered to seek humanitarian aid from the distribution centre around a kilometre (a little over half a mile) away.
Palestinians have congregated at the roundabout almost daily since late May.
AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls compiled by the civil defence agency or the circumstances of the deaths it reports.
Samir Abu Hadid, who was there early Saturday, told AFP that thousands of people had gathered near the roundabout.
"As soon as some people tried to advance towards the aid centre, the Israeli occupation forces opened fire from armoured vehicles stationed near the centre, firing into the air and then at civilians," Abu Hadid said.
- Activist boat nears Gaza -
The GHF, officially a private effort with opaque funding, began operations in late May as Israel partially eased a more than two-month-long aid blockade on the territory.
UN agencies and major aid groups have declined to work with it, citing concerns it serves Israeli military goals.
On Saturday, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that the overall toll for the Gaza war had reached 54,772, the majority civilians. The UN considers these figures reliable.
The war was sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Israel has come under increasing international criticism over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the UN warned in May that the entire population was at risk of famine.
The aid boat Madleen, organised by an international activist coalition, was sailing towards Gaza on Saturday, aiming to breach Israel's naval blockade and deliver aid to the territory, organisers said.
"We are now sailing off the Egyptian coast," German human rights activist Yasemin Acar told AFP. "We are all good," she added.
In a statement from London, the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza -- a member organisation of the flotilla coalition -- said the ship had entered Egyptian waters.
The group said it remains in contact with international legal and human rights bodies and warned that any interception would constitute "a blatant violation of international humanitarian law".
The Palestinian territory was under Israeli naval blockade even before Hamas's October 2023 attack and the Israeli military has made clear it intends to enforce it.
"For this case as well, we are prepared," army spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said on Tuesday.
- Body of Thai hostage recovered -
"We have gained experience in recent years, and we will act accordingly."
A 2010 commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar attempt to breach Israel's naval blockade, left 10 civilians dead.
The Israeli military has stepped up its operations in Gaza in recent weeks in what it says is a renewed push to defeat Hamas, whose October 2023 attack sparked the war.
On Saturday, the military issued evacuation orders for neighbourhoods in northern Gaza, saying they had been used for rocket attacks.
Separately, in a special operation in the Rafah area on Friday, Israeli forces retrieved the body of Thai hostage Nattapong Pinta, Defence Minister Israel Katz said.
"Nattapong came to Israel from Thailand to work in agriculture, out of a desire to build a better future for himself and his family," Katz said.
He was "brutally murdered in captivity by the terrorist organisation Mujahideen Brigades", the minister charged.
The Mujahideen Brigades is an armed group close to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad that Israel has also accused over other deaths of hostages seized from Kibbutz Nir Oz near the border.
The military said Nattapong's family and Thai officials had been notified of the operation.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Nikorndej Balankura said the country was "deeply saddened" by his death.
During the October 2023 attack, militants abducted 251 hostages, 55 of whom remain in Gaza, including 31 the Israeli military says are dead.
bur-kir/dcp/ysm
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Money, mining and marine parks: The big issues at UN ocean summit
France is hosting world leaders this week to confront what the United Nations calls a global "emergency" in the oceans -- but what is expected, and can the summit make a difference? There is pressure on the UN Ocean Conference starting Monday in Nice to show that countries can unite and deliver more than just talk for the world's ailing and neglected seas. - Plundered parks - Several countries are expected to announce the creation of new marine conservation zones within their national waters, though how protected they really are will come under scrutiny. Some countries impose next to no rules on what is forbidden or permitted in marine zones. France and other EU states, for example, allow bottom trawling, a damaging fishing practice, in protected waters. This means just three percent of oceans are considered truly safe from exploitation, far short of a global target to place 30 percent under conservation by 2030. - High seas - Key to achieving this goal is enacting the high seas treaty, a landmark global pact signed in 2023 to protect marine life in the vast open waters beyond national control. France had pinned success at Nice on delivering the 60 ratifications necessary to bring the treaty into force, saying the conference would be a failure without it. But it could not get the required number, drumming up roughly half ahead of the summit. Those outstanding will be pushed to explain when they intend to do so. - Uncharted waters - France will be leading diplomatic efforts in Nice to rope more countries into supporting a moratorium on deep-sea mining, a contentious practice opposed by 33 nations so far. Bolstering those numbers would send a rebuke to US President Donald Trump, who wants to allow seabed mining in international waters despite concerns over how little is understood about life at these depths. But it would also carry weight ahead of a closely watched meeting in July of the International Seabed Authority, which is haggling over global rules to govern the nascent deep-sea mining sector. - Actions not words - At the summit's close, nations will adopt a pre-agreed political statement that recognises the crisis facing oceans, and the global need to better protect them. Critics slammed the language in the eight-page document as weak or -- in the case of fossil fuels -- missing altogether, but others cautioned against reading into it too much. "The end declaration from here isn't really the only output. It's much more important, actually, what governments commit to, and what they come here to say on an individual basis," said Peter Haugan, policy director at the Institute of Marine Research in Norway. - Money matters - The conference is not a COP summit or a UN treaty negotiation, and any decisions made between June 9 and 13 in Nice are voluntary and not legally binding. But countries will still be expected to put money on the table in Nice to plug a massive shortfall in funding for ocean conservation, said Pauli Merriman at WWF International. "What we lack -- what we still lack -- is the ambition, the financing and the delivery needed to close the gap," she told reporters. "It's not enough for governments to show up to Nice with good intentions." np/klm/js
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Right-wing Colombian presidential candidate, senator shot during campaign rally
Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe was shot in Bogota on Saturday, according to the government and his party, and local media reported that he was in a local hospital in serious condition. The 39-year-old senator, who is running for the presidency in 2026, is a member of the opposition conservative Democratic Center party founded by former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. The two men are not related. Senator Miguel Uribe looks on after the Senate voted against the government labor reform referendum promoted by Colombia's President Gustavo Petro in Bogota on May 14, 2025. AFP via Getty Images According to a party statement condemning the attack, the senator was hosting a campaign event in a public park in the Fontibon neighborhood in the capital on Saturday when 'armed subjects shot him in the back.' The party described the attack as serious, but did not disclose further details on Uribe's condition. Colombia's Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said a suspect had been arrested in the shooting and that authorities were investigating whether others were involved. Sanchez said he had visited the hospital where Uribe was being treated. Police officers cordon off the area where Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay of the opposition Democratic Center party, was shot during a campaign event, in Bogota, Colombia, June 7, 2025. REUTERS Colombia's presidency issued a statement saying the government 'categorically and forcefully' rejected the violent attack, and called for a thorough investigation into the events that took place. Uribe is from a prominent family in Colombia, with links to the country's Liberal Party. His father was a businessman and union leader. His mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was kidnapped in 1990 by an armed group under the command of the late cartel leader Pablo Escobar. She was killed during a rescue operation.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Inside key meeting to remove Trump tariffs
Trade Minister Don Farrell has detailed the discussion he had with his US counterpart Jamieson Greer, revealing he had the 'greatest confidence' in Anthony Albanese during an expected meeting with Donald Trump next weekend. Senator Farrell spoke to the US Trade Representative while in Paris last week and characterised the talk as 'friendly'. Despite this, he maintained the tariffs were 'simply unjustified', highlighting Australia's trade surplus with the US. Figures indicate Australia buys about $70bn worth of goods from the US, compared to the $30bn of exports Australia sells to America. 'It wasn't a difficult discussion in terms of the relationship between us, and I am certainly of the view that we have the opportunity to continue to talk with Jamieson and Commerce Secretary Lutnick to put our case across,' he said. Senator Farrell also said he was still determined to get the trade barriers slashed. 'It's only by open discussion, honest discussion, with our allies in the United States that I think we can do that, but I certainly haven't given up on the prospect of getting these tariffs removed,' he said. 'And every opportunity I get, I'll continue to pursue that argument with the United States.' However, Senator Farrell said the decision will be ultimately made by Donald Trump, putting increased pressure on Mr Albanese's upcoming meeting with the US President. He said that while there were a 'range of ways' in which Australia communicates with the US, the 'most important … relationship between our prime minister and the president of the United States'. 'Look every meeting, I think, between an Australian Prime Minister and the US president will always be a critical meeting and I have the greatest confidence in our prime minister to push the Australian point of view on this.' The trade barriers currently include a 50 per cent levy on steel, a 25 per cent tariffs on aluminium and a blanket 10 per cent on other goods. While Mr Albanese maintained he won't compromise on Australia's biosecurity, he hinted Australia could review current settings which don't allow the US to import beef which originates from Canada and Mexico. Mr Albanese has also ruled out changes to the Pharmaceuticals Benefit Scheme, News Media Bargaining code and incoming ban on social media for under-16s, while highlighting Australia's critical minerals industry as a potential bargaining chip. 'If things can be sorted out in a way that protects our biosecurity – of course, we don't just say no, we don't want imports in here for the sake of it,' he told ABC radio on Friday. 'But our first priority is biosecurity and there'll be no compromise on that.' Mr Albanese said Australia would not have a 'subservient relationship to any nation'. 'We're a sovereign nation that stand on our own two feet,' he said. Senator Farrell also said he was 'confident' Australia can secure a new trade deal with the European Union, with EU President Ursula von der Leyen expected to visit Australia in July or August. 'We've got lots of things that we can sell to the to the Europeans. I believe now that there's an appetite to reach an agreement on both sides,' he said. 'The world has changed, those countries that believe in free and fair trade have to work together.'
