Israeli fire again kills Gaza aid-seekers as US envoy meets with hostages' families
Another 19 people were shot dead as they crowded near the Zikim crossing from Israel in the hope of obtaining aid, said Fares Awad, head of the Gaza health ministry's ambulance and emergency service.
Nearly a week has passed since Israel, under international pressure amid growing scenes of starving children, announced limited humanitarian pauses and airdrops meant to get more food to Gaza's over 2 million people. They now largely rely on aid after almost 22 months of war.
But the United Nations, partners and Palestinians say far too little aid is coming in, with months of supplies piled up outside Gaza waiting for Israeli approval. Trucks that enter are mostly stripped of supplies by desperate people and criminal groups before reaching warehouses for distribution.
Experts this week said a "worst-case scenario of famine" was occurring. On Saturday, Gaza's health ministry said seven Palestinians had died of malnutrition-related causes over the past 24 hours, including a child.
Aid is "far from sufficient," Germany's government said via spokesman Stefan Kornelius. The U.N. has said 500 to 600 trucks of aid are needed daily.
Families of the 50 hostages still in Gaza fear they are going hungry too, and blame Hamas, after the militants released images of an emaciated hostage, Evyatar David.
"The humanitarian aid flowing into Gaza, meant to alleviate suffering, must reach Evyatar, Guy and all the other hostages too," David's brother Illay told a large rally in Tel Aviv.
More deaths near U.S.-supported GHF sites
Near the northernmost GHF distribution site near the Netzarim corridor, Yahia Youssef, who had come to seek aid, described a grimly familiar scene. After helping carry three people wounded by gunshots, he said he saw others on the ground, bleeding.
"It's the same daily episode," Youssef said. Health workers said at least eight people were killed. Israel's military said it fired warning shots at a gathering approaching its forces.
At least two people were killed in the Shakoush area hundreds of meters (yards) from where the GHF operates in the southernmost city of Rafah, witnesses said. Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis received two bodies and many injured.
Witness Mohamed Abu Taha said Israeli troops opened fire toward the crowds. He saw three people -- two men and a woman -- shot as he fled.
Israel's military said it was not aware of any fire by its forces in the area. The GHF said nothing happened near its sites.
GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Israel 's military on Friday said it was working to make the routes under its control safer.
The GHF -- backed by millions of dollars in U.S. support -- launched in May as Israel sought an alternative to the U.N.-run system, which had safely delivered aid for much of the war but was accused by Israel of allowing Hamas to siphon off supplies. Israel has not offered evidence for that claim and the U.N. has denied it.
From May 27 to July 31, 859 people were killed near GHF sites, according to a U.N. report Thursday. Hundreds more have been killed along the routes of U.N.-led food convoys. Hamas-led police once guarded those convoys, but Israeli fire targeted the officers.
Israel and GHF have claimed the toll has been exaggerated.
Airdrops by a Jordan-led coalition -- which is made up of Israel, the UAE, Egypt, France, and Germany -- are another approach, though experts say the strategy remains deeply inadequate and even dangerous for people on the ground.
"Let's go back to what works & let us do our job," Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, wrote on social media, calling for more and safer truck deliveries.
Hostage families push Israel to cut deal
U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with hostages' families Saturday, a week after quitting ceasefire talks, blaming Hamas' intransigence.
"I didn't hear anything new from him. I heard that there was pressure from the Americans to end this operation, but we didn't hear anything practical," said Michel Illouz, father of Israeli hostage Guy Illouz.
He said he asked Witkoff to set a time frame but got "no answers."
Protesters called on Israel's government to make a deal to end the war, imploring them to "stop this nightmare and bring them out of the tunnels."
Airstrikes continue
Nasser Hospital said it received five bodies after two Israeli strikes on tents sheltering displaced people in Gaza's south.
The health ministry's ambulance and emergency service said a strike hit a house between the towns of Zawaida and Deir al-Balah, killing two parents and their three children. Another strike hit a tent in Khan Younis, killing a mother and her daughter.
Israel's top general Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned that "combat will continue without rest" if hostages aren't freed.
Coming home to ruins
Most Palestinians are crowded into ever-shrinking areas considered safe.
"I don't know what to do. Destruction, destruction," said Mohamed Qeiqa, who returned home to Gaza City and stood amid the neighborhood's collapsed concrete slabs. "Where will people settle?"
The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians but says women and children make up over half the dead. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
The ministry says 93 children have died from malnutrition-related causes in Gaza since the war began. It said 76 adults have died of malnutrition-related causes since late June, when it started counting adult deaths.
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The Mainichi
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- The Mainichi
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DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Every morning, Abeer and Fadi Sobh wake up in their tent in the Gaza Strip to the same question: How will they find food for themselves and their six young children? The couple has three options: Maybe a charity kitchen will be open and they can get a pot of watery lentils. Or they can try jostling through crowds to get some flour from a passing aid truck. The last resort is begging. If those all fail, they simply don't eat. It happens more and more these days, as hunger saps their energy, strength and hope. The predicament of the Sobhs, who live in a seaside refugee camp west of Gaza City after being displaced multiple times, is the same for families throughout the war-ravaged territory. Hunger has grown throughout the past 22 months of war because of aid restrictions, humanitarian workers say. But food experts warned earlier this week the "worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in Gaza." Israel enforced a complete blockade on food and other supplies for 2 1/2 months beginning in March. It said its objective was to increase pressure on Hamas to release dozens of hostages it has held since its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Though the flow of aid resumed in May, the amount is a fraction of what aid organizations say is needed. A breakdown of law and order has also made it nearly impossible to safely deliver food. Much of the aid that does get in is hoarded or sold in markets at exorbitant prices. Here is a look at a day in the life of the Sobh family: A morning seawater bath The family wakes up in their tent, which Fadi Sobh, a 30-year-old street vendor, says is unbearably hot in the summer. With fresh water hard to come by, his wife Abeer, 29, fetches water from the sea. One by one, the children stand in a metal basin and scrub themselves as their mother pours the saltwater over their heads. Nine-month-old Hala cries as it stings her eyes. The other children are more stoic. Abeer then rolls up the bedding and sweeps the dust and sand from the tent floor. With no food left over from the day before, she heads out to beg for something for her family's breakfast. Sometimes, neighbors or passersby give her lentils. Sometimes she gets nothing. Abeer gives Hala water from a baby bottle. When she's lucky, she has lentils that she grinds into powder to mix into the water. "One day feels like 100 days, because of the summer heat, hunger and the distress," she said. A trip to the soup kitchen Fadi heads to a nearby soup kitchen. Sometimes one of the children goes with him. "But food is rarely available there," he said. The kitchen opens roughly once a week and never has enough for the crowds. Most often, he said, he waits all day but returns to his family with nothing "and the kids sleep hungry, without eating." Fadi used to go to an area in northern Gaza where aid trucks arrive from Israel. There, giant crowds of equally desperate people swarm over the trucks and strip away the cargo of food. Often, Israeli troops nearby open fire, witnesses say. Israel says it only fires warning shots, and others in the crowd often have knives or pistols to steal boxes. Fadi, who also has epilepsy, was shot in the leg last month. That has weakened him too much to scramble for the trucks, so he's left with trying the kitchens. Meanwhile, Abeer and her three eldest children -- 10-year-old Youssef, 9-year-old Mohammed and 7-year-old Malak -- head out with plastic jerrycans to fill up from a truck that brings freshwater from central Gaza's desalination plant. The kids struggle with the heavy jerrycans. Youssef loads one onto his back, while Mohammed half-drags his, his little body bent sideways as he tries to keep it out of the dust of the street. A scramble for aid Abeer sometimes heads to Zikim herself, alone or with Youssef. Most in the crowds are men -- faster and stronger than she is. 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The Mainichi
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Israeli fire again kills Gaza aid-seekers as US envoy meets with hostages' families
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Israeli forces opened fire near two aid distribution sites run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as crowds of hungry Palestinians again sought food, killing at least 10 people, witnesses and health workers said Saturday. The violence came a day after U.S. officials visited a GHF site and the U.S. ambassador called the troubled system "an incredible feat." Another 19 people were shot dead as they crowded near the Zikim crossing from Israel in the hope of obtaining aid, said Fares Awad, head of the Gaza health ministry's ambulance and emergency service. Nearly a week has passed since Israel, under international pressure amid growing scenes of starving children, announced limited humanitarian pauses and airdrops meant to get more food to Gaza's over 2 million people. They now largely rely on aid after almost 22 months of war. But the United Nations, partners and Palestinians say far too little aid is coming in, with months of supplies piled up outside Gaza waiting for Israeli approval. Trucks that enter are mostly stripped of supplies by desperate people and criminal groups before reaching warehouses for distribution. Experts this week said a "worst-case scenario of famine" was occurring. On Saturday, Gaza's health ministry said seven Palestinians had died of malnutrition-related causes over the past 24 hours, including a child. Aid is "far from sufficient," Germany's government said via spokesman Stefan Kornelius. The U.N. has said 500 to 600 trucks of aid are needed daily. Families of the 50 hostages still in Gaza fear they are going hungry too, and blame Hamas, after the militants released images of an emaciated hostage, Evyatar David. "The humanitarian aid flowing into Gaza, meant to alleviate suffering, must reach Evyatar, Guy and all the other hostages too," David's brother Illay told a large rally in Tel Aviv. More deaths near U.S.-supported GHF sites Near the northernmost GHF distribution site near the Netzarim corridor, Yahia Youssef, who had come to seek aid, described a grimly familiar scene. After helping carry three people wounded by gunshots, he said he saw others on the ground, bleeding. "It's the same daily episode," Youssef said. Health workers said at least eight people were killed. Israel's military said it fired warning shots at a gathering approaching its forces. At least two people were killed in the Shakoush area hundreds of meters (yards) from where the GHF operates in the southernmost city of Rafah, witnesses said. Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis received two bodies and many injured. Witness Mohamed Abu Taha said Israeli troops opened fire toward the crowds. He saw three people -- two men and a woman -- shot as he fled. Israel's military said it was not aware of any fire by its forces in the area. The GHF said nothing happened near its sites. GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Israel 's military on Friday said it was working to make the routes under its control safer. The GHF -- backed by millions of dollars in U.S. support -- launched in May as Israel sought an alternative to the U.N.-run system, which had safely delivered aid for much of the war but was accused by Israel of allowing Hamas to siphon off supplies. Israel has not offered evidence for that claim and the U.N. has denied it. From May 27 to July 31, 859 people were killed near GHF sites, according to a U.N. report Thursday. Hundreds more have been killed along the routes of U.N.-led food convoys. Hamas-led police once guarded those convoys, but Israeli fire targeted the officers. Israel and GHF have claimed the toll has been exaggerated. Airdrops by a Jordan-led coalition -- which is made up of Israel, the UAE, Egypt, France, and Germany -- are another approach, though experts say the strategy remains deeply inadequate and even dangerous for people on the ground. "Let's go back to what works & let us do our job," Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, wrote on social media, calling for more and safer truck deliveries. Hostage families push Israel to cut deal U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with hostages' families Saturday, a week after quitting ceasefire talks, blaming Hamas' intransigence. "I didn't hear anything new from him. I heard that there was pressure from the Americans to end this operation, but we didn't hear anything practical," said Michel Illouz, father of Israeli hostage Guy Illouz. He said he asked Witkoff to set a time frame but got "no answers." Protesters called on Israel's government to make a deal to end the war, imploring them to "stop this nightmare and bring them out of the tunnels." Airstrikes continue Nasser Hospital said it received five bodies after two Israeli strikes on tents sheltering displaced people in Gaza's south. The health ministry's ambulance and emergency service said a strike hit a house between the towns of Zawaida and Deir al-Balah, killing two parents and their three children. Another strike hit a tent in Khan Younis, killing a mother and her daughter. Israel's top general Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned that "combat will continue without rest" if hostages aren't freed. Coming home to ruins Most Palestinians are crowded into ever-shrinking areas considered safe. "I don't know what to do. Destruction, destruction," said Mohamed Qeiqa, who returned home to Gaza City and stood amid the neighborhood's collapsed concrete slabs. "Where will people settle?" The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians but says women and children make up over half the dead. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties. The ministry says 93 children have died from malnutrition-related causes in Gaza since the war began. It said 76 adults have died of malnutrition-related causes since late June, when it started counting adult deaths.
Asahi Shimbun
3 days ago
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Palestinian chef serves mother's recipes from occupied home
Even in the Palestinian territory where Israeli military operations continue, family recipes with their own take on flavors continue to endure as each generation teaches them to the next. Sudki Mansour is part of this legacy. The 42-year-old chef serves the simple home-cooked dishes he learned from his mother at his restaurants, hoping to introduce Japanese diners to the Palestinian way of life. Mansour was born and raised in the West Bank as the seventh of 11 siblings. His family struggled financially. When he was 13, he left home to work at a chicken farm in Israel. Every time he returned home, he looked forward to helping his mother in the kitchen and adding new dishes to his repertoire. At 22, Mansour came to Japan at the invitation of his eldest brother who was running a restaurant in Saitama Prefecture. He would then discover what he describes as 'the wonder of freedom and peace,' something he had never known in his homeland. Determined to open a restaurant of his own, he taught himself Japanese and saved up money by working jobs in demolition and painting. Mansour pulled off his goal about 15 years ago when he opened Bisan in the Jujo neighborhood of Tokyo's Kita Ward where he steadily built a loyal clientele, first among his coworkers and then through word of mouth. He later opened a second location in Yamanashi Prefecture, followed by a third in Kyoto last year—both share their names with the original. Some customers were so inspired by his cooking that they went on to visit Palestine where Mansour then guided them to his family home. Certain travelers broke down in tears, moved by the kindness they encountered on their trip, and asked, "Why can't this war end?" Peace in his homeland remains out of sight, and his family is not unscathed. Four years ago, an Israeli soldier shot one of his older brothers to death. Mansour continues to send money to support his brother's five surviving children. 'I feel anger, but people must not hate one another,' he said. 'Every single person has a precious life to live.' He longs for the day when he can once again welcome his Japanese friends to his family home.
