Para-cyclist Ahmed Al Dali killed by Israeli airstrike on Gaza, team says
A Palestinian man who was one of the first amputee members of a squad of para-cyclists in Gaza has been killed in an Israeli airstrike, his team has announced.
Ahmed Al Dali was killed on Monday in an attack on the city of Khan Younis in the southern area of the besieged enclave, the Gaza Sunbirds team said.
The 33-year-old father-of-four lost his leg in 2014 after an Israeli bombing in Gaza. At the time, he was initially pronounced dead and placed in a morgue, before his body was reassessed and his family discovered he was still alive.
In a post on Instagram, the Gaza Sunbirds said they were "devastated" by Mr Dali's death, adding: "We are heartbroken. But we are also furious. This cannot continue."
Mr Dali turned to para-sport "to prove that disability is not inability," the team said. He played para-football and then became one of the first amputee members of the Gaza Sunbirds para-cycling squad in 2022.
Mr Dali's cousin, Alaa Al Dali, a co-founder and team captain of Gaza Sunbirds, said on Monday: "Ahmed survived the missile that took his leg in 2014, but today a second missile took his life.
"When we first started this journey, Ahmed was by my side. He was a great person filled with positivity and a love for sport. Today his life ended. It breaks my heart to have to continue our journey without him but we will keep going for all those who we lost during this genocide."
0:56
Karim Ali, co-founder and team manager of Gaza Sunbirds, said: "Ahmed's courage on the bike was matched only by his devotion to his children and his community."
He added: "Our team is witnessing civilians being killed daily, the supply of weapons from international governments needs to stop. As a team working tirelessly to deliver aid over the last 16 months, there is nothing more we can do. It is time for real change. We don't want to lose more people."
The Gaza Sunbirds formed in 2020 and have been working during Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza to distribute $450,000 (£337,000) worth of aid across the strip.
Israel launches new major offensive
It comes after Israeli strikes on Gaza overnight and into Tuesday hit a family home and a school that was being used as a shelter, killing at least 60 people, according to Palestinian health officials.
Israel has launched another major offensive in the territory with the aim of returning dozens of hostages still being held by Hamas and destroying the militant group.
More than 300 people have been killed in the latest onslaught, the officials said.
1:05
Israel has agreed to allow a limited amount of aid into the territory, where around two million people live. It follows a two-and-a-half-month blockade that prevented the entry of food, medicine, fuel and other goods, bringing warnings the area was at risk of famine.
The war began in October 2023 when Hamas militants stormed into Israeli communities near the border with Gaza, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
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Daily Mail
11 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Donald Trump criticises the BBC for Gaza aid misreporting as the White House accuses the broadcaster of interpreting the word of Hamas as 'the total truth'
The Trump administration has hit out at the BBC, accusing the corporation of interpreting the word of ' Hamas as the total truth'. Yesterday, 21 Palestinians were killed by IDF troops as they tried to collect aid near a distribution site in Rafah, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Previously, the Hamas-run health ministry said at least 31 people had been killed while waiting for food, laying blame on ' Israeli gunfire'. When asked about these reports, Karoline Leavitt, the US President's secretary, said the Oval Office was attempting to confirm what had transpired before speaking publicly. But in a bizarre turn of events, she basted the BBC for its coverage on the matter, accusing them of taking 'the word of Hamas with total truth.' Waving a printout of stories on the BBC website, she described how headlines had changed from accusations an Israeli tank had killed 26 people, to 21, and then again to 31 fatalities. 'Unfortunately, unlike some in the media, we don't take the word of Hamas with total truth,' she said in a press conference: 'We like to look into it when they speak… unlike the BBC …' 'And then, oh, wait, they had to correct and take down their entire story, saying we reviewed the footage and couldn't find any evidence of anything,' she said. 'So we're going to look into reports before we confirm them from this podium or before we take action. Taking another swipe at the broadcaster, she added: 'And I suggest that journalists who actually care about truth do the same to reduce the amount of misinformation that's going around the globe.' A BBC spokesperson said: 'The claim the BBC took down a story after reviewing footage is completely wrong. We did not remove any story and we stand by our journalism. 'Our news stories and headlines about Sunday's aid distribution centre incident were updated throughout the day with the latest fatality figures as they came in from various sources. 'These were always clearly attributed, from the first figure of 15 from medics, through the 31 killed from the Hamas-run health ministry to the final Red Cross statement of 'at least 21' at their field hospital. 'This is totally normal practice on any fast-moving news story.' Completely separately, a BBC Verify online report on Monday reported a viral video posted on social media was not linked to the aid distribution centre it claimed to show. This video did not run on BBC news channels and had not informed our reporting. Conflating these two stories is simply misleading. It is vital to bring people the truth about what is happening in Gaza. International journalists are not currently allowed into Gaza and we would welcome the support of the White House in our call for immediate access. Last week, thousands of Palestinians overran an aid distribution site in Gaza, established by a US and Israeli-backed group. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said they had to retreat due to the insurmontable numbers of people seeking aid Earlier today, 27 were killed and several were injured by IDF troops near a food site in Gaza, according to local officials. The Israeli military said its forces had opened fire on a group of people they viewed as a threat after they left a designated access route near the distribution centre in Rafah and approached their positions. It added it was still investigating what had happened. The deaths came hours after Israel said three of its soldiers had been killed in fighting in northern Gaza, as its forces pushed ahead with a months-long offensive against Hamas militants that has laid much of the enclave to waste. The reports in northern and southern Gaza could not be independently verified. An International Committee of the Red Cross spokesperson said its field hospital in Rafah had received 184 casualties, adding that 19 of those were dead upon arrival, and eight died of their wounds shortly after. Video showed injured people, including at least one woman, being rushed to a medical centre on carts drawn by donkeys. Health officials said at least 18 more Palestinians were killed in other military strikes in the territory on Tuesday. The United Nations human rights office in Geneva said on Tuesday the impediment of access to food relief for civilians in Gaza might constitute a war crime and described attacks on people trying to access food aid as 'unconscionable'. The head of the U.N. agency, Volker Turk, urged a prompt and impartial investigation into the killings. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer denied that civilians had been targeted. 'The IDF is doing everything in its power to allow Gazans to get to the humanitarian aid. The IDF is not preventing the arrival of Gazans at humanitarian aid sites. Indeed, we are encouraging it,' Mencer said.
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Gaza aid centres to be closed tomorrow - as IDF warns nearby roads will be 'considered combat zones'
Aid distribution centres in Gaza will be closed on Wednesday, the US-backed organisation operating them has announced, after Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli gunfire near one of its sites. In a post on Facebook, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said the centres would be shut "for renovations, organisation, and efficiency improvements". "Due to the ongoing upgrades, entry into the distribution centre areas is strictly prohibited," it added. "Please avoid the site and adhere to the general instructions. Operations will resume on Thursday." Following the announcement, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) told people in Gaza that "travel is prohibited" on Wednesday "via the roads leading to the distribution centres, which are considered combat zones, and entry into the distribution centre areas is strictly prohibited". It comes after 27 Palestinians were killed while waiting for aid to be distributed in the Rafah area of southern Gaza early on Tuesday, according to the Hamas -run health ministry. The ministry claimed that more than 90 people were injured in what it called a "massacre", with some of the wounded in a serious condition. The IDF said it fired "near a few individual suspects" who left the designated route, approached its forces and ignored warning shots, about half a kilometre from the aid distribution site of the GHF. It added that people were moving towards its forces in a way that "posed a threat to them". Later, IDF spokesperson Effie Defrin said accusations that the Israeli military shot at civilians at the aid centre were "completely unfounded and false". "We are debriefing this event, and we will find out the truth," he added. The media office of the Gaza government, which is run by Hamas, said in a statement that Israel was transforming aid distribution centres "into mass death traps and bloodbaths" with 102 people killed and 490 more injured in just eight days since the centres opened on 27 May. The aid centres were "luring starving civilians to them as a result of the crippling famine", said the media office, which called for humanitarian aid delivered through UN agencies and neutral international organisations rather than the GHF. The IDF said in a statement: "Earlier today (Tuesday), during the movement of the crowd along the designated routes toward the aid distribution site - approximately half a kilometre from the site - IDF troops identified several suspects moving toward them, deviating from the designated access routes. "The troops carried out warning fire, and after the suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near a few individual suspects who advanced toward the troops." 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The Israeli government says the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is supposed to prevent aid from going to Hamas. That's almost certainly not being achieved. The operation is in chaos – every morning tens of thousands of people make the journey south on foot to get food when the two hubs open after dawn. It's first come, first served. It's the survival of the fittest in a place where almost everyone is already starving. The pictures of massive crowds grabbing food boxes in a frenzied manner aren't just an indication of the desperation, but would also appear to undermine Israel's claims the aid isn't going to Hamas. Amid the chaos and thousands of people (mostly men) scrabbling for aid, how could they possibly know who is getting it? The International Committee of the Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah received 184 casualties. A spokesperson added that 19 of those were declared dead upon arrival, and eight died of their wounds shortly after. There were three children and two women among the dead, according to Mohammed Saqr, who is the head of nursing at Nasser Hospital in Gaza. How is aid being distributed in Gaza? The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) launched its first aid distribution sites at the end of May to combat widespread hunger among the population in Gaza. The GHF, a private group endorsed by Israel, operates as part of a controversial new aid system established by Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in May that Israel would be "taking control of food distribution" in Gaza after it accused Hamas of diverting and seizing aid supplies. Hamas has denied stealing aid. GHF's aid plan has been criticised by UN agencies and established charities, which have refused to work with the new distribution system. The UN and major aid groups said the aid plan violates humanitarian principles because it allows Israel to control who receives aid and forces people to relocate to distribution sites, risking yet more mass displacement in the territory. The IDF said in a statement that the GHF "operate(s) independently in order to enable the distribution of aid to the Gazan residents - and not to Hamas". It also highlighted that Israeli troops were "not preventing the arrival of Gazan civilians to the humanitarian aid distribution sites". Israel has said it ultimately wants the UN to work through the GHF, which is using private US security and logistics groups to bring aid into Gaza for distribution by civilian teams at so-called secure distribution sites. There have been repeated reports of Palestinians being killed near Rafah as they gathered at the aid distribution site to get desperately needed supplies. A spokesperson for the UN high commissioner for human rights, Jeremy Laurence, said: "For a third day running, people were killed around an aid distribution site run by the 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation'." Mr Laurence's office said the impediment of access to food and relief for civilians in Gaza may constitute a war crime, describing attacks on civilians trying to access food aid as "unconscionable". The alleged shooting comes just two days after reports that 31 people were killed as they walked to a distribution centre run by the GHF in the Rafah area. Witnesses said the deaths came after Israeli forces opened fire, while Palestinian and Hamas-linked media attributed the deaths they reported to an Israeli airstrike. The IDF later said its forces "did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site and that reports to this effect are false". 2:55 On Monday, three more Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli fire. 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The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Morning Mail: Ukraine strikes Crimea bridge, Musk's ire at Trump's ‘abomination' tax bill, e-scooter injury toll revealed
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