Dozens of Gazans killed and injured trying get aid, health ministry says
Dozens of Palestinians were killed or injured by
Israeli fire
on their way to collect food aid from distribution hubs in southern
Gaza
under a controversial new US-backed humanitarian scheme, the besieged enclave's health ministry said.
The health ministry said 31 people had been killed with many injured taken to hospitals on Sunday morning after the
Israeli military opened fire at crowds heading towards two food distribution stations
run by the
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
(GHF), one of which was closed.
The
Israel Defense Forces
denied this, saying an initial inquiry found it 'did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site and that reports to this effect are false'.
GHF said reports of deaths and injuries at its distribution site on Sunday were 'untrue and fabricated' and that aid had been distributed 'without incident'.
READ MORE
'Our aid was again distributed today without incident,' GHF said, warning of 'rumours being actively fomented by Hamas'.
The reports could not be independently verified.
Israel – which in March imposed a crushing blockade on Gaza that has pushed the 2.1 million population to the edge of famine – has in recent days allowed limited quantities of aid into the strip via the
UN
and the GHF-led system.
Under the new GHF model, Gazans must travel – in many cases for long distances on foot – to receive boxed meals from distribution hubs secured by US private security contractors and the Israeli military. The hubs are so far located primarily in the south.
Since it began operations over the past week, the little-known organisation has set up
three distribution hubs
in south and central Gaza – although only one, in Tal al-Sultan, has been active over the past three days.
The UN and most other humanitarian groups have refused to co-operate, accusing the GHF of having 'weaponised' aid to force the displacement of Palestinians to southern Gaza and violating humanitarian principles.
[
Gaza aid foundation chief quits as Israeli air strikes kill dozens
Opens in new window
]
A UN spokesperson this week described Gaza as 'the hungriest place on earth'.
In its first day of operations on Tuesday, the Tal al-Sultan hub was overrun by thousands of desperate people, with dozens injured by gunfire and taken to a Red Cross field hospital near the centre.
GHF and Israeli military officials denied at the time that any aid recipients were injured.
The killings on Sunday will deepen doubts about GHF's ability to replace the UN, which previously delivered aid to families at local distribution sites. Medical charity
Médecins Sans Frontières
on Saturday described the new system as 'disastrous. Ineffective. Dangerous. Reckless. Dehumanising'.
Sunday's casualties were taken to the Red Cross-operated field hospital in southern Gaza near the Tal al-Sultan distribution centre, and to the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.
[
Gaza doctor whose nine children were killed in Israeli strike dies from wounds from same attack
Opens in new window
]
Victoria Rose, a British plastic surgeon volunteering at Nasser, said in a video that the hospital had received an 'extortionate amount of people' wounded by gunshots. 'It's absolute carnage here,' she said.
Israel said the new system was necessary to ensure that Hamas, whose October 7th, 2023, attack on southern Israel triggered the war, was not able to divert aid. According to the GHF, more than 4.7 million meals have been distributed so far to an estimated 67,000 families.
Humanitarian officials say they had not seen evidence of systematic diversion of aid under the old UN-led model.
Sunday's violence came as efforts to secure a new ceasefire in Gaza, mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar, faltered.
US envoy Steve Witkoff said on Saturday that amendments proposed by Hamas to a potential deal – under which fighting would stop for 60 days, over two dozen Israeli hostages would be released, and aid would flow into the territory – were
'totally unacceptable'
.
The Palestinian militant group wants any deal to include a guarantee that Israel will fully withdraw its troops from the enclave and permanently end the war, demands that prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government has rejected.
Witkoff urged Hamas to accept his framework proposal, which he said would allow the start of 'good-faith negotiations' over a full end to the conflict.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Binyamin Netanyahu cross-examined for the first time in corruption trial
Five years after the start of his corruption trial, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu underwent cross-examination for the first time on Tuesday. Mr Netanyahu is facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust – all of which he denies. The first cross-examination session on Tuesday focused on allegations that he had received gifts from wealthy benefactors. Mr Netanyahu claimed that the gifts were due to the close personal relations he developed with certain billionaires. He denied that the presents, which included cigars, champagne and jewellery, were given in return for favours. The prosecution noted one occasion when Sara Netanyahu, Mr Netanyahu's wife, asked Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan to buy a large Bugs Bunny doll for their son, later asking him to exchange it for a larger one. Mr Netanyahu claimed he could not remember the gift. READ MORE Prosecution lawyer Yonatan Tadmor raised the question of Mr Netanyahu's memory. 'You don't have problems with your memory, right?' he asked. 'We all do, from time to time,' Mr Netanyahu answered, before Mr Tadmor reminded him that on 1,788 occasions during his investigation he had claimed an inability to remember, implying this was the answer he gave when he preferred to avoid uncomfortable questions. Mr Netanyahu is the first sitting prime minister in Israeli history to have taken the stand as a defendant. His questioning over the last few months by the defence legal team has been chaotic. Numerous sessions have been cancelled, delayed or finished early due to pressing matters of state, most connected to the Gaza war. In almost every court appearance Mr Netanyahu has received notes from aides updating him on military and diplomatic developments. This has strengthened the arguments of opponents of Mr Netanyahu who claim that in a country such as Israel – particularly in the midst of a 20-month war – it is simply impossible for a prime minister to appear in court three times a week for months on end. [ Binyamin Netanyahu becomes first sitting Israeli PM to take stand as criminal defendant Opens in new window ] Mr Netanyahu faces corruption charges in three cases. The first, known as Case 1,000, centres on gifts he allegedly received from Mr Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer. Case 2,000 focuses on an illicit deal he allegedly tried to strike with Arnon Mozes, the publisher of Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, to ensure positive coverage. Case 4,000 centres on an alleged deal by which Shaul Elovitch, then the controlling shareholder of Israeli telecom corporation Bezeq, ensured positive coverage of the Netanyahu family by the Walla! news website, which Mr Elovitch owned, in exchange for the prime minister promoting government regulations worth the equivalent of hundreds of millions of euro to the company. Mr Netanyahu denies all of the allegations, claiming the graft claims are nothing more than a witch hunt by the left, supported by the judiciary and media, in an effort to topple him from power. It is expected the cross-examination stage may continue into 2026, with the trial itself lasting at least another two years. Even if Mr Netanyahu is eventually convicted, and assuming he appeals, legally he would be required to resign only after the final judgment of Israel's supreme court, which could take a further few years. According to Israeli law, the maximum punishment is 10 years in jail for a bribery conviction, but this scenario is unlikely since the judges have already recommended that the prosecution drop the bribery charges. The punishment for fraud and breach of trust is three years in jail.
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
UN agencies should be enabled to distribute aid in Gaza, says Taoiseach
Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour broke down in tears as he described the suffering of children amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Video: Reuters
Irish Times
6 hours ago
- Irish Times
Trump tells Iran sanctions will remain until it ends nuclear programme
US president Donald Trump has demanded Tehran dismantle its nuclear programme as the price for the lifting of sanctions which are crippling Iran's economy. 'WE WILL NOT ALLOW ANY ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM!' he wrote on his Truth Social on Monday night. Iran says its right to enrichment of uranium is non-negotiable. During five rounds of talks on a nuclear deal since April, the Trump administration has made conflicting statements on whether it wants Iran to halt all uranium enrichment or maintain low levels of enrichment. In recent weeks Mr Trump and US envoy Steve Witkoff have said Iran must end all enrichment activities. READ MORE This stand, however, contradicted a proposal on Saturday, reported by US-based Axios website, for the lifting of sanctions in exchange for the limiting of enrichment to 3.67 per cent purity – which can be used for medicine and power generation. [ Iran has increased stockpile of highly enriched uranium, watchdog reveals Opens in new window ] Under such an agreement, Iran would be banned from building new enrichment plants and advancing nuclear research and development. It would dismantle uranium-processing facilities and make underground enrichment facilities non-operational. Iran would also be obliged to adhere to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requirements. The proposal reiterates a decade-old plan for Iran to create a consortium with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to handle enrichment for civilian purposes. This has been rejected by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Sanctions relief would be granted once Iran 'demonstrates real commitment' as assessed by the US and the IAEA. In response, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the US had not delivered assurances on sanctions relief. Iran is seeking guarantees and mechanisms for sanctions removal. After a recent meeting in Cairo with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said: 'If the goal is to deprive Iran of its peaceful activities, then certainly no agreement will be reached.' His comment came in response to Mr Grossi's call for 'more transparency' over Iran's nuclear activities after an IAEA report revealed that Iran has stepped up production of uranium enrichment to 60 per cent, closer to the 90 per cent required for weapons – which Iran contends it has no intention of producing. [ Iran will survive if nuclear deal not agreed with US, says president Opens in new window ] During next week's meeting in Vienna of the IAEA board of governors, western powers are expected to table a resolution to trigger intrusive sanctions against Iran for failing to provide information on past and present nuclear activities and failing to co-operate fully with the IAEA. Iran's atomic energy agency and foreign ministry have rejected this threat and argued it is in full compliance with non-proliferation commitments and violated the 2015 deal only after the US abandoned it. Although that deal – negotiated between Iran, the US, China, France, Germany, Russia and the UK – was successful in containing Iran's nuclear activities and lifting sanctions, Mr Trump withdrew the US in 2018 and placed 1,500 fresh sanctions on Iran. Since returning to office in January, he has intensified his 'maximum pressure' campaign to compel Iran to submit to his demands on the nuclear deal and other issues and threatened military action if negotiations fail.
