Over 30 Palestinians killed near aid centres run by controversial Israeli-backed scheme
Deaths of people waiting for handouts in huge crowds near food points in Gaza have become a regular occurrence, with the territory's authorities frequently blaming Israeli fire.
But the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is the main distributor of aid in the territory, has accused militant group Hamas of fomenting unrest and shooting at civilians.
The Israeli military said it was 'looking into' the latest reports.
Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the deaths happened near a site southwest of Khan Yunis and another centre northwest of Rafah, both in the south, attributing the deaths to 'Israeli gunfire'.
One eyewitness said he headed to the Al-Tina area of Khan Yunis before dawn with five of his relatives to try to get food when 'Israeli soldiers' started shooting.
'My relatives and I were unable to get anything,' Abdul Aziz Abed, 37, told AFP.
'Every day I go there and all we get is bullets and exhaustion instead of food.'
Advertisement
Three other eyewitnesses also accused troops of opening fire.
'They started shooting at us and we lay down on the ground. Tanks and jeeps came, soldiers got out of them and started shooting,' said Tamer Abu Akar, 24.
Nine people were killed in gunfire at the same centre in the Al-Shakoush area northwest of Rafah on Friday, the civil defence agency said.
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.
'Agitators'
The war in Gaza, sparked by militant group Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on 7 October, 2023, has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people who live in the coastal territory.
Most people have been displaced at least once by the fighting and doctors and aid agencies say the physical and mental health effects of 21 months of conflict are being increasingly seen.
'We are receiving cases suffering from extreme exhaustion and complete fatigue, in addition to severe emaciation and acute malnutrition due to prolonged lack of food,' the director of the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in Khan Yunis, Sohaib Al-Hums, said on Friday.
'Hundreds' of people were facing 'imminent death', he added.
The World Food Programme said nearly one in three people in Gaza were not eating for days at a stretch and 'thousands' were 'on the verge of catastrophic hunger'.
The free flow of aid into Gaza is a key demand of Hamas in the indirect talks with Israel for a 60-day ceasefire in the war, alongside a full Israeli military withdrawal.
Related Reads
Internet outages and a 2G mobile network keep Gazans offline and silenced
Controversial Israeli-backed relief scheme in Gaza says 20 people killed at distribution site
Balance and fairness: Have global media outlets accurately reflected the true horror of Gaza?
Following a more than two-month total Israeli blockade, GHF took over the running of aid distribution in late May, despite criticism from the United Nations, which previously coordinated handouts, that it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
GHF said 20 people died at its Khan Yunis site on Wednesday but blamed 'agitators in the crowd… armed and affiliated with Hamas' for creating 'a chaotic and dangerous surge' and firing at aid-seekers.
The previous day, the UN said it had recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food, including 674 'in the vicinity of GHF sites', since it began operating.
Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel led to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians.
Of the 251 people taken hostage that day, 49 are still in Gaza, including the 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military action has killed 58,667 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
-
© AFP 2025
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
The latest child to starve to death in Gaza weighed less than when she was born
A mother pressed a final kiss on what remained of her five-month-old daughter and wept. Esraa Abu Halib's baby now weighed less than when she was born. On a sunny street in shattered Gaza, the bundle containing Zainab Abu Halib represented the latest death from starvation after 21 months of war and Israeli restrictions on aid. The baby was taken to the paediatric department of Nasser Hospital on Friday. She was already dead. A worker at the morgue carefully removed her Mickey Mouse-printed shirt, pulling it over her sunken, open eyes. He pulled up the hems of her pants to show her knobby knees. His thumb was wider than her ankle. He could count the bones of her chest. The girl had weighed more than 3kg (6.6lbs) when she was born, her mother said. When she died, she weighed less than 2kg (4.4lbs). Palestinians pray over the body of five-month-old baby Zainab Abu Halib (Mariam Dagga/AP) A doctor said it was a case of 'severe, severe starvation'. She was wrapped in a white sheet for burial and placed on the sandy ground for prayers. The bundle was barely wider than the imam's stance. He raised his open hands and invoked Allah once more. Zainab was one of 85 children to die of malnutrition-related causes in Gaza in the past three weeks, according to the latest toll released by the territory's health ministry on Saturday. Another 42 adults died of malnutrition-related causes in the same period, it said. 'She needed a special baby formula which did not exist in Gaza,' Zainab's father, Ahmed Abu Halib, told The Associated Press as he prepared for her funeral prayers in the hospital's courtyard in the southern city of Khan Younis. Dr Ahmed al-Farah, head of the paediatric department, said the girl had needed a special type of formula that helps with babies allergic to cow's milk. He said she had not suffered from any diseases, but the lack of the formula led to chronic diarrhoea and vomiting. She was not able to swallow as her weakened immune system led to a bacterial infection and sepsis, and quickly lost more weight. Esraa Abu Halib shows to journalists a photo of her five-month-old baby, Zainab (Mariam Dagga/AP) The child's family, like many of Gaza's Palestinians, lives in a tent, displaced. Her mother, who also has suffered from malnutrition, said she breastfed the girl for only six weeks before trying to feed her formula. 'With my daughter's death, many will follow,' she said. 'Their names are on a list that no-one looks at. They are just names and numbers. We are just numbers. Our children, whom we carried for nine months and then gave birth to, have become just numbers.' Her loose robe hid her own weight loss. The arrival of children suffering from malnutrition has surged in recent weeks, Dr al-Farah said. His department, with a capacity of eight beds, has been treating about 60 cases of acute malnutrition. They have placed additional mattresses on the ground. Another malnutrition clinic, affiliated with the hospital, receives an average of 40 cases weekly, he said. 'Unless the crossings are opened and food and baby formula are allowed in for this vulnerable segment of Palestinian society, we will witness unprecedented numbers of deaths,' he warned. Doctors and aid workers in Gaza blame Israel's restrictions on the entry of aid and medical supplies. Food security experts warn of famine in the territory of more than two million people. After ending the latest ceasefire in March, Israel cut off the entry of food, medicine, fuel and other supplies completely to Gaza for two and a half months, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas to release hostages. Our children, whom we carried for nine months and then gave birth to, have become just numbers Under international pressure, Israel slightly eased the blockade in May. Since then, it has allowed in about 4,500 trucks for the UN and other aid groups to distribute, including 2,500 tons of baby food and high-calorie special food for children, Israel's Foreign Ministry said last week. Israel says baby formula has been included, plus formula for special needs. The average of 69 trucks a day, however, is far below the 500 to 600 trucks a day the UN says are needed for Gaza. The UN says it has been unable to distribute much of the aid because hungry crowds and gangs take most of it from its arriving trucks. Separately, Israel has backed the US-registered Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which in May opened four centres distributing boxes of food supplies. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food, mostly near those new aid sites, the UN human rights office says. Much of Gaza's population now relies on aid. 'There was a shortage of everything,' the mother of Zainab said as she grieved. 'How can a girl like her recover?'
Irish Examiner
6 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Israeli air strikes in Gaza Strip leave at least 25 dead, health officials say
At least 25 people were killed by Israeli air strikes and gunshots overnight, according to health officials and the ambulance service on Saturday, as ceasefire talks appear to have stalled and Palestinians in Gaza face famine. The majority of victims were killed by gunfire as they waited for aid trucks close to the Zikim crossing with Israel, said staff at Shifa hospital, where the bodies were brought. The Israeli army did not respond to requests for comments about the latest shootings. Those killed in the strikes include four people in an apartment building in Gaza City among others, hospital staff and the ambulance service said. The strikes come as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have hit a standstill after the US and Israel recalled their negotiating teams on Thursday, throwing the future of the talks into further uncertainty. Palestinians mourn during the funeral of people who were killed while trying to reach aid trucks (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP/PA) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday his government was considering 'alternative options' to ceasefire talks with Hamas. His comments came as a Hamas official said negotiations were expected to resume next week and portrayed the recall of the Israeli and American delegations as a pressure tactic. Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the talks alongside the US, said the pause was only temporary and that talks would resume, though they did not say when. The United Nations (UN) and experts have said that Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of famine, with reports of increasing numbers of people dying from causes related to malnutrition. While Israel's army says it is allowing aid into the enclave with no limit on the number of trucks that can enter, the UN says it is hampered by Israeli military restrictions on its movements and incidents of criminal looting. The Zikim crossing shootings come days after at least 80 Palestinians were killed trying to reach aid entering through the same crossing. The Israeli military said at the time its soldiers shot at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians who posed a threat and that it was aware of some casualties. Marwa Barakat (centre) mourns during the funeral of her son Fahd Abu Hajeb (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP/PA) Israel is facing increased international pressure to alleviate the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza. More then two dozen Western-aligned countries and more than 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticising Israel's blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out. The charities and rights groups said even their own staff were struggling to get enough food. For the first time in months Israel said it is allowing airdrops, requested by Jordan. A Jordanian official said the airdrops will mainly be food and milk formula. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wrote in a newspaper article on Saturday that the UK was 'working urgently' with Jordan to get British aid into Gaza. Aid group the World Central Kitchen said on Friday it was resuming limited cooking operations in Deir al-Balah after being forced to halt due to a lack of food supplies. It said it is trying to serve 60,000 meals daily through its field kitchen and partner community kitchens, less than half of what it has cooked over the previous month.
Irish Examiner
10 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Rising number of doctors among hundreds of medical staff detained in Gaza, say rights groups
Twenty-eight doctors from Gaza are being held inside Israeli prisons, eight of whom are senior consultants in surgery, orthopaedics, intensive care, cardiology and paediatrics, according to data from Healthcare Workers Watch (HWW), a Palestinian medical organisation. Twenty-one of those detained have been held for more than 400 days. HWW said none had been charged with any crimes by the Israeli authorities. Three healthcare workers have been detained since the start of July. On Monday, the Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli undercover force detained Dr Marwan al-Hams, head of Abu Youssef al-Najjar hospital in Rafah, outside the field hospital of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the southern Gaza Strip. His whereabouts are unknown, and the Israeli authorities have yet to publish a statement on his detention. On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that two of its workers were taken into detention from a facility sheltering staff and their families in Dier al-Balah; one remains in Israeli custody. According to the WHO, Israel has arrested and detained more than 300 healthcare workers since the the war between Hamas and Israel began in October 2023. HWW puts this figure higher, at over 400. Muath Alser, director of HWW, said: 'Many of the health workers were arrested at their work sites, and they remain held for months – often without communication, being denied medical care when needed, and suffering from terrible detention conditions. We urge people in power to pressure Israel to release those health workers still under unlawful detention.' Overwhelmed hospitals are already struggling to function, while increasing hunger among medical staff in Gaza has left many too weak to provide urgent medical care to malnourished and injured civilians, doctors have told the Guardian and the Arabic Reporters for Investigative Journalism. In February, the Guardian published detailed accounts from senior Palestinian doctors held and then released from Israeli detention who reported being tortured, beaten and humiliated during their time in prison. Those still being held by the Israeli authorities include Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, who has been detained at Israel's Ofer prison since December 2024. Earlier this week his lawyer told Sky News his health was deteriorating and that he was being beaten and tortured. In a statement to the Guardian, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accused medical staff in Gaza, including doctors, of involvement in Hamas terror activity. It did not provide any evidence to substantiate the claim. 'In the context of IDF activity in combat zones, individuals suspected of involvement in terror activity are arrested and investigated. Those found not to be involved in terror activity are released. 'A regrettable outcome of Hamas' exploitation of hospitals is the involvement of medical staff, including doctors, directly in Hamas' terror activity. Put plainly, the IDF is not interested in medical staff vis a vis their roles as medical professionals, but due to their potential involvement in Hamas terror,' said the statement. Two senior doctors are known to have died in Israeli detention: Dr Iyad al-Rantisi, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Kamal Adwan hospital, died at Shikma prison; Dr Adnan al-Bursh, head of the orthopaedic department at al-Shifa hospital, died shortly after being transferred to Ofer prison in April 2024. Former detainees claim he died from torture and had suffered severe sexual violence in the hours before his death. Their bodies have not yet been returned to their families. The detention of medical staff from Gaza in Israeli prisons has been condemned by the WHO and the UN who have called for their immediate release. Reports of torture, violence and psychological abuse of healthcare workers while in detention have been verified by the UN and published in reports by organisations such as HWW, Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights Israel.
