Israeli fire kills 67 people seeking aid in Gaza, medics say, as hunger worsens
The ministry said dozens of people were also wounded during the incident in northern Gaza. It was one of the highest reported death tolls among repeated recent cases in which aid seekers have been killed, including 36 on Saturday. Another six people were killed near another aid site in the south, it said.
Israel's military said its troops had fired warning shots towards a crowd of thousands of people in northern Gaza on Sunday to remove what it said was "an immediate threat."
It said initial findings suggested reported casualty figures were inflated, and it "certainly does not intentionally target humanitarian aid trucks."
It did not immediately comment on the incident in the south.
The U.N. World Food Program (WFP) said that shortly after entering Gaza, a WFP convoy of 25 trucks carrying food aid encountered "massive crowds of hungry civilians" who then came under gunfire.
"WFP reiterates that any violence involving civilians seeking humanitarian aid is completely unacceptable," it said in a statement.
A Hamas official said that the militant group was angered over the mounting deaths and the hunger crisis in the enclave, and that this could badly affect ceasefire talks under way in Qatar.
In total, health authorities said 90 people had been killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes across the enclave on Sunday.
Displaced Gazans evacuate
After Israel's military dropped leaflets urging people to evacuate from neighborhoods in central Gaza's Deir al-Balah, residents said Israeli planes struck three houses in the area.
Dozens of families began leaving their homes, carrying some of their belongings. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans have been sheltering in the Deir al-Balah area.
Palestinians carry aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, on Sunday. |
REUTERS
Israel's military said it had not entered the districts subject to the evacuation order during the current conflict and that it was continuing "to operate with great force to destroy the enemy's capabilities and terrorist infrastructure in the area."
Israeli sources have said the reason the army has so far stayed out is because they suspect Hamas might be holding hostages there. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in captivity in Gaza are believed to still be alive.
Hostage families demanded an explanation from the army.
"Can anyone (promise) to us that this decision will not come at the cost of losing our loved ones?" the families said in a statement.
Accelerating starvation
Much of Gaza has been reduced to a wasteland during more than 21 months of war and there are fears of accelerating starvation.
Palestinian health officials said hundreds of people could soon die as hospitals were inundated with patients suffering from dizziness and exhaustion due to the scarcity of food and a collapse in aid deliveries.
"We warn that hundreds of people whose bodies have wasted away are at risk of imminent death due to hunger," said the health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas.
The United Nations also said on Sunday that civilians were starving and needed an urgent influx of aid.
Pope Leo called for an end to the "barbarity of war" as he spoke of his profound pain over an Israeli strike on the sole Catholic church in Gaza that killed three people on Thursday.
Gaza residents said it was becoming impossible to find essential food such as flour. The health ministry said at least 71 children had died of malnutrition during the war, and 60,000 others were suffering from symptoms of malnutrition.
Later on Sunday, it said 18 people have died of hunger in the past 24 hours.
Food prices have increased well beyond what most of the population of more than 2 million can afford.
Several people who spoke to reporters via chat apps said they either had one meal or no meal in the past 24 hours.
"As a father, I wake up in the early morning to look for food, for even a loaf of bread for my five children, but all in vain," said Ziad, a nurse.
"People who didn't die of bombs will die of hunger. We want an end to this war now, a truce, even for two months," he said.
Palestinians carry aid supplies amid a hunger crisis in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday. |
REUTERS
Others said they felt dizzy walking in the streets and that many fainted as they walked. Fathers leave tents to avoid questions by their children about what to eat.
UNRWA, the U.N. refugee agency dedicated to Palestinians, demanded Israel allow more aid trucks into Gaza, saying it had enough food for the entire population for over three months which was not allowed in.
Israel's military said that it "views the transfer of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as a matter of utmost importance, and works to enable and facilitate its entry in coordination with the international community."
Truce talks
Some Palestinians suggested the move on Deir al-Balah might be an attempt to put pressure on Hamas to make more concessions in long-running ceasefire negotiations.
Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a 60-day truce and hostage deal, although there has been no sign of breakthrough.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza.
The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis.
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Yomiuri Shimbun
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Yomiuri Shimbun
10 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Israeli Fire Kills Dozens in Gaza, Officials Say, as Aid Delivery Remains Chaotic after New Measures
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Yomiuri Shimbun
10 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Trump Says Many Are Starving in Gaza, Vows to Set up Food Centres
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Two Israeli defence officials said the international pressure prompted the new Israeli measures, as did the worsening conditions on the ground. U.N. agencies said a long-term and steady supply of aid was needed. The World Food Programme said 60 trucks of aid had been dispatched – short of target. Almost 470,000 people in Gaza are enduring famine-like conditions, with 90,000 women and children in need of specialist nutrition treatments, it said. 'Our target at the moment, every day is to get 100 trucks into Gaza,' WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, Samer AbdelJaber, told Reuters. Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Reuters the situation is catastrophic. 'At this time, children are dying every single day from starvation, from preventable disease. So time has run out.' Netanyahu has denied any policy of starvation towards Gaza, saying aid supplies would be kept up whether Israel was negotiating a ceasefire or fighting. A spokesperson for COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, said Israel had not placed a time limit on the humanitarian pauses in its military operation, a day after U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher said Israel had decided 'to support a one-week scale-up of aid'. 'We hope this pause will last much longer than a week, ultimately turning into a permanent ceasefire,' Fletcher's spokesperson, Eri Kaneko, said on Monday. Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Compared to last week, U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said, there had only been a 'small uptick' in the amount of aid being transported into Gaza since Israel started the humanitarian pauses. TRUMP SAYS HAMAS DIFFICULT TO DEAL WITH In his statement on Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel would continue to fight until it achieved the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas and the destruction of its military and governing capabilities. Trump said Hamas had become difficult to deal with in recent days, but he was talking with Netanyahu about 'various plans' to free hostages still held in the enclave. The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked communities across the border in southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostage, according to Israeli tallies. The Gaza health ministry said that 98 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours. Some of the trucks that made it into Gaza were seized by desperate Palestinians, and some by armed looters, witnesses said. The Hamas-run Gaza government said only 87 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Monday, with the majority of trucks looted due to what it described as 'direct and systematic Israeli complicity'. 'Currently aid comes for the strong who can race ahead, who can push others and grab a box or a sack of flour. That chaos must be stopped and protection for those trucks must be allowed,' said Emad, 58, who used to own a factory in Gaza City. The WFP said it has 170,000 metric tons of food in the region, outside Gaza, which would be enough to feed the whole population for the next three months if it gets the clearance to bring into the enclave. COGAT said more than 120 truckloads of aid were distributed in Gaza on Sunday by the U.N. and international organizations. More aid was expected on Monday. Qatar said it had sent 49 trucks that arrived in Egypt en route for Gaza. Jordan and the United Arab Emirates airdropped supplies. Israel cut off aid to Gaza from the start of March in what it said was a means to pressure Hamas into giving up dozens of hostages it still holds, and reopened aid with new restrictions in May. Hamas accuses Israel of using hunger as a weapon. Israel says it abides by international law but must prevent aid from being diverted by militants, and blames Hamas for the suffering of Gaza's people.
