Israeli military announces start of major ground offensive in Gaza
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that it had launched a major ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Defense Force said it is deploying ground troops, and has "eliminated" dozens of fighters of the Islamic group Hamas, and dismantled "infrastructure sites" of the group.
The Israeli Air Force also has been conducting intensive airstrikes across Gaza. Palestinian media reported that 17 Palestinians were killed on Monday in airstrikes on Khan Younis and other areas.
Footage of a hospital in Khan Younis taken by a crew from NHK's Gaza office early Monday shows many injured people being hauled to the hospital on trucks, and children receiving treatment there.
The air raids have claimed more than 100 lives on a daily basis. There appears to be no end to the rapid surge in the number of casualties.
Against this backdrop, the Israeli government announced on Sunday it will allow a basic amount of food to be brought into Gaza.
It has blocked humanitarian aid from being brought into the strip since early March. Gazans face an acute shortage of food and medicine.
It remains to be seen whether the food will reach the over 2 million Gazans in the enclave amid intensifying ground operations and airstrikes.
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Yomiuri Shimbun
15 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Palestinians Say Israeli Fire Kills 12 near Aid Sites. Israel Says It Fired Warning Shots
The Associated Press Palestinians carry bags containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organization, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, June 8, 2025. DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli fire killed at least 12 people and wounded others as they headed toward two aid distribution points in the Gaza Strip run by an Israeli and U.S.-backed group, Palestinian health officials and witnesses said Sunday. Israel's military said it fired warning shots at people who approached its forces. The past two weeks have seen frequent shootings near the new hubs where thousands of Palestinians — desperate after 20 months of war — are being directed to collect food. Witnesses say nearby Israeli troops have opened fire, and more than 80 people have been killed, according to Gaza hospital officials. In all, at least 108 bodies were brought to hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the territory's Health Ministry said. Israel's military said it struck dozens of militant targets throughout Gaza over the past day. Eleven of the latest bodies were brought to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces fired on some at a roundabout around a kilometer (half-mile) from a site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, in nearby Rafah. Israel's military said it fired warning shots at approaching 'suspects' who ignored warnings to turn away. It said the shooting happened in an area that is considered an active combat zone at night. Al-Awda Hospital said it received the body of a man and 29 people who were wounded near another GHF aid distribution point in central Gaza. The military said it fired warning shots in the area at around 6:40 a.m., but didn't see any casualties. A GHF official said there was no violence in or around its distribution sites, all three of which delivered aid on Sunday. The group closed them temporarily last week to discuss safety measures with Israel's military and has warned people to stay on designated access routes. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The new aid hubs are set up inside Israeli military zones where independent media have no access. The GHF also said it was piloting direct delivery to a community north of Rafah. Witnesses fear for their safety Witnesses said the first shootings in southern Gaza took place at around 6 a.m., when they were told the site would open. Many headed toward it early, seeking desperately needed food before crowds arrived. Gaza's roughly 2 million Palestinians are almost completely reliant on international aid because nearly all food production capabilities have been destroyed. Adham Dahman, who was at Nasser Hospital with a bandage on his chin, said a tank fired toward them. 'We didn't know how to escape,' he said. 'This is trap for us, not aid.' Zahed Ben Hassan said someone next to him was shot in the head. 'They said it was a safe area from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. … So why did they start shooting at us?' he said. 'There was light out, and they have their cameras and can clearly see us.' The military announced on Friday that the sites would be open during those hours, and the areas would be a closed military zone the rest of the time. Children cried over their father's body at the hospital. 'I can't see you like this, Dad!' one girl said. Aid distributed inside Israeli military zones The new aid hubs are run by GHF, a new group of mainly American contractors. Israel wants it to replace a system coordinated by the United Nations and international aid groups. Israel and the United States accuse the Hamas militant group of stealing aid. The U.N. denies there is systematic diversion. The U.N. says the new system is unable to meet mounting needs, allows Israel to use aid as a weapon by determining who can receive it and forces people to relocate to where aid sites are positioned. The U.N. system has struggled to deliver aid, even after Israel eased its blockade of Gaza last month. U.N. officials say their efforts are hindered by Israeli military restrictions, the breakdown of law and order and widespread looting. Experts warned earlier this year that Gaza was at critical risk of famine, if Israel didn't lift its blockade and halt its military campaign. Both were renewed in March. Israeli officials have said the offensive will continue until all hostages are returned and Hamas is defeated or disarmed and sent into exile. Israel says it identified Hamas chief Mohammed Sinwar's body On Sunday, Israel's military invited journalists into Khan Younis to show a tunnel under the European Hospital, saying they found the body of Mohammed Sinwar, the head of Hamas' armed wing, there after he was killed last month. Israel has barred international journalists from entering Gaza independently since the war began. '(Israeli forces) would prefer not to hit or target hospitals,' army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said. Sinwar's body was found in a room under the hospital's emergency room, Defrin said. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Talks mediated by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been deadlocked for months. Hamas started the war with its attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostage. They still hold 55 hostages, fewer than half of them alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's military campaign has killed more than 54,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It says women and children make up most of the dead, but doesn't say how many civilians or combatants were killed. Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population.
Japan Times
4 days ago
- Japan Times
Hamas says ready for 'serious' Gaza truce talks, as rescuers say scores killed
Hamas' lead negotiator said the group was ready to enter a new round of talks aimed at sealing a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, where rescuers said Israeli strikes killed at least 37 people on Thursday. Negotiator Khalil al-Hayya made the declaration in a speech marking the start of Eid al-Adha festivities, typically a joyous date on the Muslim calendar, but one many Gazans say they will not be able to celebrate this year amid crushing shortages. "We reaffirm that we are ready for a new, serious round of negotiations aimed at reaching a permanent ceasefire agreement," Hayya said, adding the group was in contact with mediators. Talks aimed at brokering a new ceasefire have failed to yield a breakthrough since the last brief truce fell apart in March with the resumption of Israeli operations in Gaza. Israel and Hamas appeared close to an agreement late last month, but a deal proved elusive, with each side accusing the other of scuppering a U.S.-backed proposal. Stepped-up Gaza campaign The Israeli military has recently stepped up its campaign in what it says is a renewed push to defeat Hamas, whose October 2023 attack sparked the war. Gaza civil defense official Mohammed al-Mughayyir said that "37 people have been martyred in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip" as of Thursday afternoon, reporting attacks up and down the length of the territory. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. International calls for a negotiated ceasefire have grown in recent weeks, particularly as the humanitarian situation in the devastated Palestinian territory has worsened. The World Health Organization warned Thursday that Gaza's "health system is collapsing", pointing to the risks faced by the Nasser and Al-Amal medical facilities — the "last two functioning public hospitals in Khan Yunis," where many displaced Gazans are sheltering. "What is happening in Gaza is not a war. It's a genocide being carried out by a highly prepared army against women and children," said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has previously used the legal term to describe the conflict. Israeli tanks are positioned along the border with the Gaza Strip on Thursday | AFP-Jiji French President Emmanuel Macron, who has declined to use the term himself, vowed at a joint appearance with Lula to "ramp up pressure in coordination with the Americans to obtain a ceasefire." France is due later this month to co-host with Saudi Arabia a United Nations conference in New York on a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday warned Israel of "further concrete actions" over its Gaza offensive and restrictions on aid. 'Rejoice over flour' Israel has faced mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza, after it imposed a more than two-month blockade that led to widespread shortages of food and other essentials. On a normal Eid al-Adha, Gazans would be preparing for large family gatherings, traditionally centered on the sacrifice and eating of a sheep. But this year, "one kilo of meat has become a dream," said Mohammed Othman, 36. "We just hope to find bread to feed our children on the day of Eid, and they will rejoice over flour as if it were meat." Israel recently eased its aid blockade and has worked with the newly formed, U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to implement a new distribution mechanism via a handful of centers in south and central Gaza. But since its inception, GHF has been a magnet for criticism from the U.N. and other members of the aid world — which only intensified following a recent string of deadly incidents near its facilities. The United Nations and other aid groups have declined to work with GHF, citing concerns it serves Israeli military goals. GHF shut down its distribution centers on Wednesday for what it called "reorganization" to improve its work, but said it had reopened two of them on Thursday. The group said it had distributed more than 8.4 million meals' worth of food since opening a little over a week ago. Gaza rescuers and eyewitnesses implicated Israeli troops in instances of deadly gunfire near a GHF center in Rafah. Israel's military has maintained it does not prevent Gazans from collecting aid, but army spokesperson Effie Defrin said after one such incident on Tuesday that soldiers had fired toward suspects who "were approaching in a way that endangered" the troops. He added that the incident was under investigation. Hostage bodies recovered During their October 2023 attack, militants abducted 251 hostages, 55 of whom remain in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military says are dead. On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the remains of two Israeli-Americans killed on Oct. 7 — Judy Weinstein Haggai and Gad Haggai — had been recovered in "a special operation" in Gaza and returned to Israel. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said their return was "a stark reminder of the enduring cruelty" faced by the families of hostages still in Gaza. Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, at least 4,402 people have been killed since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 54,677, mostly civilians.
NHK
5 days ago
- NHK
US-backed group cancels food aid distribution in Gaza on Wednesday
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has said it would not distribute food aid to people in the enclave on Wednesday, as attacks by Israeli forces continue there. The private-sector foundation has provided food since May 27. But local authorities say Israeli troops have been repeatedly opening fire on residents waiting for aid, causing deaths and injuries. The foundation said on Tuesday that distribution centers would be closed on Wednesday for maintenance work, such as "improving efficiency." It added that operations would resume on Thursday. The Israeli military said roads leading to the sites would be blocked on Wednesday. The United Nations and other organizations are criticizing the foundation, which is backed by the US. It says food aid distribution should be carried out in a framework led by the UN. UN spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said on Tuesday: "It is unacceptable. Civilians are risking, and in several instances, losing their lives, just trying to get food." He also called for an immediate and independent investigation.
