Israel kills 32 near two aid centres in Gaza
Gaza's civil defence agency said on Saturday that Israeli fire killed 32 people and wounded more than 100 near two aid centres, in the latest deaths of Palestinians seeking food.
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 has replaced UN agencies as the main distributor of aid in the territory, has accused militant group Hamas of fomenting unrest and shooting at civilians.
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 southern Gaza, attributing the fatalities to "Israeli gunfire".
One witness 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."
Three other witnesses also accused troops of opening fire.
In response, the Israeli military said it "identified suspects who approached them during operational activity in the Rafah area, posing a threat to the troops".
Soldiers called for them to turn back and "after they did not comply, the troops fired warning shots", it said, adding that it was aware of the reports about casualties.
"The incident is under review. The shots were fired approximately one kilometre (more than half a mile) away from the aid distribution site at nighttime when it's not active," it said in a statement.
GHF said reports of deaths near its sites were "false".
"We have repeatedly warned aid-seekers not to travel to our sites overnight and early morning hours," it wrote on X.
Elsewhere, the civil defence agency reported that an Israeli strike on a house near Nuseirat, in central Gaza, killed 12 people.
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.
The war in Gaza, sparked by militant group Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 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 they were seeing the physical and mental health effects of 21 months of war, including more acute malnutrition.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
10 hours ago
- Express Tribune
At least 34 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza
Palestinians stand near a damaged vehicle at the site of an overnight Israeli air strike on a house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 28, 2025 [Ramadan Abed/Reuters] At least 34 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and attacks across Gaza since dawn on Tuesday, according to medical sources cited by Al Jazeera. Meanwhile, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) has reported a development involving Chris Smalls, a US labour activist. Smalls, the former president of the Amazon Labour Union, was one of 21 activists and journalists intercepted by Israeli forces while aboard the Handala, a ship attempting to deliver aid to Gaza. According to the FFC, Smalls was assaulted by seven uniformed Israeli personnel who reportedly choked and kicked him, leaving visible injuries on his neck and back. The group condemned the assault as discriminatory, calling for immediate accountability. The violence in Gaza continues to intensify, with Israeli forces carrying out overnight bombings that have killed at least 30 people in the central Nuseirat region. Hospitals in the area are struggling to manage the influx of patients, many of whom are civilians trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings. Read: Trump warns of 'real starvation' in Gaza The West Bank, too, has seen deadly clashes. A Palestinian activist, Odeh Muhammad Hadalin, was shot dead by an Israeli settler in the village of Umm al-Khair in the occupied Masafer Yatta region. Hadalin, known for his activism in documenting settler violence, was killed while standing in front of a community centre. His death has sparked widespread condemnation, with fellow activists mourning the loss of a committed advocate for Palestinian rights. 'My dear friend Awdah was slaughtered this evening,' said Basel Adra, the co-director of No Other Land, an Oscar-winning film that documents Israeli settler and soldier attacks on the Palestinian community of Masafer Yatta. 'This is how Israel erases us – one life at a time.' Israel's war on Gaza The Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing nearly 60,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages. Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
Express Tribune
19 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Sri Lanka arrests ex-navy chief
Sri Lankan investigators arrested a former navy chief on Monday over the abduction and disappearance of a suspect 15 years ago, a police officer told AFP. Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne was taken into custody over the disappearance in 2010, when he headed the Directorate of Naval Intelligence, said a detective who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to media. Ulugetenne, who also served as Sri Lanka's ambassador to Cuba following his retirement from the navy in December 2022, was remanded in custody until Wednesday. "We recorded a statement from him regarding the disappearance of a 48-year-old man in 2010 and he was later arrested," he said. Ulugetenne's arrest comes after an investigation into another former navy chief, Wasantha Karannagoda, which drew attention to extrajudicial killings during Sri Lanka's 37-year Tamil separatist war. The killings have been raised at consecutive UN Human Rights Council meetings, which have called for independent investigations into atrocities committed during the separatist conflict. AFP
Express Tribune
20 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Gaza's Maha seeks help amid blockade
Football referee Maha Mohammad Shabat before October 7, 2023 in Berlin (L), and her on July 28, 2025 in Gaza (R). PHOTO COURTEST: MAHA SHABAT "I am living the most difficult days of our lives due to fear, hunger and deprivation," Maha Mohamed Shabbat, a footballer and referee originally from northeastern city of Beit Hanoun in Gaza described her condition amid the artificial famine created by the Israel stretching the total blockade of any food supplies to Gazan for 148 days now, since March 2. She wants the blockade to end, which has pushed the population of 2.1 million, including many infants, to starvation and death. Meanwhile, the Health Ministry in Gaza has stated last week that at least 59,586 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, and many are buried under the rubble. The Israeli Occupation Force is also controlling the aid stations and regularly massacres Palestinians seeking food. The ever-smiling Maha is gentle, but firm and unfathomably brave. She has shown incredible grit, like most in Gaza, as she and her family are now living through the genocide for 1 year, 9 months, 22 days. Before October 7, Maha had dreams of establishing her own club in Gaza for girls. She has worked with several humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and she was an active member of the Gaza Strip's vibrant football community. "Without sports, my life is worth nothing," she wrote about her motto in August 2023 when she represented her community at the Discover Football Festival: Unseen Game event in Berlin. But in two months, Maha's life turned upside down. She has lost more than 25 family members, including her brother, when he was trying to buy bread in the wake of Israeli attacks in October 2023. Then she lost several of her cousins and their families, including renowned journalist Hossam Shabat, who worked for Al Jazeera Mubasher and was targeted by Israel for covering the devastation during the genocide and constant attacks. He is among more than 230 journalists murdered by Israel in Gaza since October 2023. The relatives that Maha has lost also include a volunteer and doctor, Dr. Mohammed Shabat, who died along with his family while performing humanitarian duties in Gaza. "My situation is very difficult inside the Gaza Strip because of the continuous bombing, forced displacement, and the difficult economic conditions," she explained to this correspondent as she is now located in Nasr, a West Gazan city, taking shelter at a school. Maha has also been suffering from bouts of low blood pressure and low blood sugar, to the point where when she needed to make videos to send them out to friends outside of Gaza to request donations, she had to hide her body, that is growing thinner with each passing day, and she was having trouble standing stil due to hunger and lack of food. In the past, too, Maha got injured because of the bombing and fell ill due to lack of food and clean water several times during displacement and destruction of her home in Beit Hanoun, where she cannot return and is seeking refuge in shelters since October 2023. "My city is Beit Hanoun. We were unable to reach it. The occupation has taken control of our land and property. Access to it is prohibited," she said with pain and anger. Maha is not only battling her health issues but also needs to take care of her elderly parents. "As for the life of my family, they face many difficulties and problems among family members due to the difficult conditions and the lack of money that is not enough to buy daily sustenance and daily needs, the most important of which is flour that they are unable to obtain. "The parents are elderly and need treatment and medicine. Additionally, my sister needs to complete her university studies, despite the challenging living conditions and fear. The children are the ones who are deprived of food. Health. Now we have malnutrition." $50 a kilo of flour "Our children are exposed to the development of this disease. In Gaza, our children are exposed to losing their lives. Some of them lost their lives due to this disease, and the elderly. I am two people, a number of them are young, I mean, from malnutrition," added Maha. "We have orphan children. Where do these children get the money to buy flour? A kilo of flour costs $50. Sugar costs $100, and it is scarce and unavailable. "Our bodies need sugars and fats, and vitamins to survive," she added. Present and future lost She explained that losing relatives, friends, and colleagues and witnessing all the devastation has also caused her to lose hope in the future. "I used to think that I was the master of my life and future. I am no longer thinking like a master. I am now thinking about where I will get food and where we will cut wood so we can light a fire," she explained how the genocide has changed her outlook in life. "I was thinking of establishing a women's football association in Palestine. We worked and established a team at the Al-Ahly Beit Hanoun Club. "But now, no club has been united in the Gaza Strip or my city of Beit Hanoun. There is no team. They are all scattered. Some are martyrs, some are shooting. Some are displaced to another area in the western Gaza Strip, south of Gaza, searching for safety. There is no safety in the Gaza Strip. Every day, we bid farewell to a martyr and receive the wounded. The attackers are entering hospitals and health tents in the Gaza Strip." Athletes are killed regularly as sports facilities are destroyed The Palestinian Football Association had issued a press release on June 29, 2025, stating that at least 785 Palestinian athletes and sports officials in Gaza and the West Bank had been affected since October 2023, whereas "Israeli attacks have completely or partially destroyed 288 sports facilities, including stadiums, gyms, and club buildings. Of those, 21 were in the occupied West Bank."
