At least 36 killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid in Gaza, hospital says
GAZA - At least 36 people were killed by Israeli fire while they were on their way to an aid distribution site in Gaza at dawn on Saturday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots at suspects who approached its troops after they did not heed calls to stop, about a kilometre away from an aid distribution site that was not active at the time.
Gaza resident Mohammed al-Khalidi said he was in the group approaching the site and heard no warnings before the firing began.
"We thought they came out to organise us so we can get aid, suddenly (I) saw the jeeps coming from one side, and the tanks from the other and started shooting at us," he said.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed group which runs the aid site, said there were no incidents or fatalities there on Saturday and that it has repeatedly warned people not to travel to its distribution points in the dark.
"The reported IDF (Israel Defence Forces) activity resulting in fatalities occurred hours before our sites opened and our understanding is most of the casualties occurred several kilometres away from the nearest GHF site," it said.
The Israeli military said it was reviewing the incident.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore Mindef, SAF units among those dealing with attack on S'pore's critical information infrastructure
Asia How China's growing cyber-hacking capabilities have raised alarm around the world
Asia At least 34 killed as tourist boat capsizes in Vietnam's Halong Bay
Singapore 1 dead, 1 injured after dispute between neighbours at Yishun HDB block
Singapore Vessels from Navy, SCDF and MPA to debut at Marina Bay in NDP maritime display
Asia Autogate glitch at Malaysia's major checkpoints causes chaos for S'porean and foreign travellers
Asia SIA, Scoot, Cathay Pacific cancel flights as typhoon nears Hong Kong
Singapore A deadly cocktail: Easy access, lax attitudes driving Kpod scourge in S'pore
"NO MORE TIME"
GHF uses private U.S. security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a U.N.-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the accusation.
The U.N. has called the GHF's model unsafe and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards, which GHF denies.
On Tuesday, the U.N. rights office in Geneva said it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks in the vicinity of aid sites and food convoys in Gaza - the majority of them close to GHF distribution points.
Most of those deaths were caused by gunfire that locals have blamed on the Israeli military. The military has acknowledged that civilians were harmed, saying that Israeli forces had been issued new instructions with "lessons learned".
At least 50 more people were killed in other Israeli attacks across Gaza on Saturday, health officials said, including one strike that killed the head of the Hamas-run police force in Nuseirat in central Gaza and 11 of his family members.
The Israeli military said that it had struck militants' weapon depots and sniping posts in a few locations in the enclave.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza.
The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed around 58,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis, leaving much of the territory in ruins.
Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a U.S.-proposed 60-day ceasefire and a hostage deal mediated by Egypt and Qatar, though there has been no sign of any imminent breakthrough.
At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza are believed to still be alive. Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was kidnapped from his kibbutz home and is held by Hamas, urged Israel's leaders to make a deal with the militant group.
"An entire people wants to bring all 50 hostages home and end the war," Zangauker said in a statement outside Israel's defence headquarters in Tel Aviv.
"My Matan is alone in the tunnels," she said, "He has no more time." REUTERS
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Straits Times
Violence in Mexican state of Sinaloa continues one year after 'El Mayo' Zambada's arrest in US
Members of the National Guard guard a crime scene where a man was gunned down, as violence and economic turmoil escalate in Culiacan one year after the abduction and extradition of Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael \"El Mayo\" Zambada to the United States, in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico, July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Jesus Bustamante Culiacan, Mexico - The street vendor said the few tourists who still visit Culiacan no longer look for posters of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and accused drug kingpin Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, once the Mexican city's most famous residents. The posters, which for years were in high demand, have become symbolic of a spike in horrific violence sparked by an alleged betrayal that led to Zambada's arrest one year ago and fueled fighting within the Sinaloa cartel. "I imagine that at some point in my life, tourism will return to Culiacan," said Jazmin, who now sells a smattering of magnets, keychains, and mugs. She declined to share her last name because of the constant threat of violence in this once-bustling city of 1 million people. Friday marks one year since Zambada, one of Mexico's most infamous accused drug lords, was arrested at an airfield near El Paso, Texas, along with one of El Chapo's sons, Joaquin Guzman Lopez. Zambada says El Chapo's son, Joaquin, kidnapped him and turned him over to U.S. agents. The alleged betrayal was shocking. Prosecutors allege Zambada and "El Chapo" founded the Sinaloa cartel and represented different factions of the criminal organization. The arrests sparked a break in the group and triggered a wave of violence that continues. During the first six months of this year, authorities registered 883 homicides in Sinaloa compared to 224 during the same period a year earlier. The vast majority happened in Culiacan. The homicides may be just the beginning. Authorities say more than 1,500 people have gone missing in Sinaloa since September 2024, after Zambada's arrest. Security officials say criminal groups were involved in many of the disappearances. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore SMRT to pay lower fine of $2.4m for EWL disruption; must invest at least $600k to boost reliability Singapore MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA Singapore S'pore could have nuclear energy 'within a few years', if it decides on it: UN nuclear watchdog chief Asia Recap: Evacuees recount explosions and separations as Thai-Cambodia clashes continue for second day Life 'Do you kill children?': Even before independence, S'pore has always loved its over-the-top campaigns Singapore Lung damage, poor brain development, addiction: What vaping does to the body Singapore Fine for couple whose catering companies owed $432,000 in salaries to 103 employees Singapore Kopi, care and conversation: How this 20-year-old helps improve the well-being of the elderly "Life in Culiacan is no longer the same," said a local official who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals. "There are no more parties here due to fear," he said, adding that schools prefer to hold classes online instead of in person. Security analysts say violence in the state is at the highest level since the last major split between criminal groups in 2008, when the Sinaloa cartel broke an alliance with the Beltran Leyva brothers' cartel. "It's one thing to break a pact through betrayal, as happened then, and another to hand over an important partner, as happened last year," said Tomas Guevara, an expert on security issues in Sinaloa, referring to Zambada's alleged abduction. "The situation is more gruesome these days,' he added. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has struggled to control the spiraling violence, sending thousands of heavily armed soldiers to Sinaloa to patrol the area, along with helicopters, armored vehicles, high-caliber weapons, and drones. Still, the discovery of corpses continues, sometimes piled up by the dozens. Bodies have been hung from bridges and mutilated with messages of revenge between rival groups. U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that Mexican authorities are "petrified" of the drug cartels and alleged they have enormous control in the country and over Mexican politicians. Sheinbaum said those allegations are blatantly untrue. Mexican Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said on Sunday during a visit to Sinaloa that the government's priority is "restoring peace to families." Zambada said in February he was willing to plead guilty to charges related to drug trafficking, money laundering, and weapons possession if U.S. prosecutors take the death penalty off the table. REUTERS
Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Straits Times
France's top court says arrest warrant for Assad is invalid, new one can be issued
FILE PHOTO: A billboard with a picture of Syria's Bashar al-Assad shows damage by bullet holes, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo PARIS - France's highest court ruled on Friday that an arrest warrant for former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was invalid as it was issued when he was still in office, but said a new warrant can now be issued as he is no longer a sitting head of state. French investigating magistrates issued the warrant in November 2023 following a French investigation into chemical weapons attacks in the Syrian city of Douma and Eastern Ghouta district in August 2013 that killed more than 1,000 people. Then-President Assad's government denied using chemical weapons during the country's civil war that began in 2011. Assad was toppled last December by Islamist rebels whose leader is now the interim president. The Court of Cassation's decision overturns one made by the Paris Court of Appeal, which ruled last year that the warrant was valid. Prosecutors, who would need to ask police to carry out the warrant, challenged its validity. "International custom does not allow any exception to the personal immunity of a foreign head of state during the entire duration of their term in office, even when the alleged acts constitute genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity," the Court of Cassation said in a statement. "The arrest warrant issued at a time when this person was the head of state of Syria is therefore invalid ... However, an arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity can now be issued since this person no longer holds the position of Head of State." 'MISSED OPPORTUNITY' Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore SMRT to pay lower fine of $2.4m for EWL disruption; must invest at least $600k to boost reliability Singapore MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA Singapore S'pore could have nuclear energy 'within a few years', if it decides on it: UN nuclear watchdog chief Asia Live: Thailand-Cambodia border clashes continue for second day Life 'Do you kill children?': Even before independence, S'pore has always loved its over-the-top campaigns Singapore Lung damage, poor brain development, addiction: What vaping does to the body Singapore Fine for couple whose catering companies owed $432,000 in salaries to 103 employees Singapore Kopi, care and conversation: How this 20-year-old helps improve the well-being of the elderly Mariana Pena, senior legal officer at Open Society Justice Initiative which helped gather evidence against Assad, described the court's ruling as "a missed opportunity for justice." But she said the fact that France's top court had agreed to hear the case signalled a growing willingness to challenge immunity. This, she said, was also reflected in "today's decision which leaves the door open to the prosecution of Assad" now that he is no longer in office. Separately, French officials issued a warrant in January against Assad for suspected complicity in war crimes, notably the launch of a deliberate attack on civilians, as part of a inquiry into the case of Salah Abou Nabour, a Franco-Syrian national, who was killed in 2017 in a bombing strike in Syria. Assad fled to Russia in December 2024 when insurgent forces swept through the country in a rapid offensive, ending over 50 years of rule by his family. While arrest warrants against sitting heads of state are rare due to immunity protection, international law has exceptions when that leader is accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide. France allows the filing of crimes against humanity cases in its courts. REUTERS
Straits Times
6 hours ago
- Straits Times
France's top court rules arrest warrant for ex-Syrian leader Assad is invalid
FILE PHOTO: A billboard with a picture of Syria's Bashar al-Assad shows damage by bullet holes, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo PARIS - France's highest court ruled on Friday that an arrest warrant for former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was invalid as it was issued when he was still in office, but said a new warrant can now be issued as he is no longer a sitting head of state. French investigating magistrates had issued the warrant in November 2023 following a French investigation into chemical weapons attacks in the Syrian city of Douma and Eastern Ghouta district in August 2013 that killed more than 1,000 people. Then-President Assad's government denied using chemical weapons during the country's civil war that broke out in 2011. Assad was toppled in December last year by Islamist rebels whose leader is now the interim president. The Court of Cassation's decision overturns one made by the Paris Court of Appeal, which had ruled last year that the warrant was valid. Prosecutors, who would need to ask police to carry out the warrant, had challenged its validity. "International custom does not allow any exception to the personal immunity of a foreign head of state during the entire duration of their term in office, even when the alleged acts constitute genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity," the Court of Cassation said in a statement. "The arrest warrant issued at a time when this person was the head of state of Syria is therefore invalid ... However, an arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity can now be issued since this person no longer holds the position of Head of State," it said. Separately, French officials issued a warrant in January against Assad for suspected complicity in war crimes, notably the launch of a deliberate attack on civilians, as part of a inquiry into the case of Salah Abou Nabour, a Franco-Syrian national, who was killed in 2017 in a bombing strike in Syria. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore SMRT to pay lower fine of $2.4m for EWL disruption; must invest at least $600k to boost reliability Singapore MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA Singapore S'pore could have nuclear energy 'within a few years', if it decides on it: UN nuclear watchdog chief Asia Live: Thailand-Cambodia border clashes continue for second day Life 'Do you kill children?': Even before independence, S'pore has always loved its over-the-top campaigns Singapore Lung damage, poor brain development, addiction: What vaping does to the body Singapore Fine for couple whose catering companies owed $432,000 in salaries to 103 employees Singapore Kopi, care and conversation: How this 20-year-old helps improve the well-being of the elderly Assad fled to Russia in December 2024 when insurgent forces swept through the country in a lightening offensive, ending over 50 years of rule by his family. While arrest warrants against sitting heads of state are rare due to immunity protection, international law has exceptions when that leader is accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide. France allows the filing of crimes against humanity cases in its courts. REUTERS
