At least 42 Palestinians, some seeking aid, killed by Israeli gunshots and strikes in Gaza amid famine concerns
Gunfire killed at least a dozen people waiting for aid trucks close to the Zikim crossing with Israel in the north, said staff at Shifa hospital, where bodies were taken. Israel's military said it fired warning shots to distance a crowd "in response to an immediate threat," and it was not aware of any casualties.
A witness, Sherif Abu Aisha, said people started running when they saw a light that they thought was from aid trucks, but as they got close, they realized it was Israel's tanks. That's when the army started firing, he told The Associated Press. He said his uncle was among those killed.
"We went because there is no food ... and nothing was distributed," he said.
Elsewhere, those killed in strikes included four people in an apartment building in Gaza City, hospital staff and the ambulance service said. Another Israeli strike killed at least eight people, including four children, in the crowded tent camp of Muwasi in the city of Khan Younis in the south, according to the Nasser hospital, which received the bodies.
Also in Khan Younis, Israeli forces opened fire and killed at least nine people trying to get aid entering Gaza through the Morag corridor, according to the hospital's morgue records. There was no immediate comment from Israel's military.
The strikes come as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have hit a standstill after the U.S and Israel recalled their negotiating teams on Thursday, throwing the future of the talks into further uncertainty.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 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 United States, said the pause was only temporary and that talks would resume, though they did not say when.
For desperate Palestinians, a ceasefire can't come soon enough.
The United Nations and experts say 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's allowing aid into the enclave with no limit on the number of trucks that can enter, the U.N. 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 79 Palestinians were killed trying to reach aid entering through the same crossing. Israel's 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.
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 criticizing 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. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote in a newspaper article on Saturday that the U.K. was "working urgently" with Jordan to get British aid into Gaza.
Aid group the World Central Kitchen said on Friday that 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's trying to serve 60,000 meals daily through its field kitchen and partner community kitchens, less than half of what it's cooked over the previous month.
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