Palestinians say 36 people killed trying to obtain desperately needed aid
Experts and humanitarian aid workers say Israel's blockade and 20-month military campaign have pushed Gaza to the brink of famine.
At least 163 people have been killed and 1,495 wounded in a number of shootings near aid sites run by the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which are in military zones that are off-limits to independent media.
The crisis has reached unprecedented levels of despair as people continue to go hungry across #Gaza.
🚨 Over 2.700 children under 5 diagnosed with acute malnutrition in late May🏥 Only 1 medical point partially functional in North Gaza⛽ Fuel stocks critically lowHumanitarian… pic.twitter.com/CqxghXJhyx
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) June 10, 2025
The Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots on previous occasions at people who it says approached its forces in a suspicious manner.
The foundation says there has been no violence in or around the distribution points themselves. But it has warned people to stay on designated access routes and it paused delivery last week while it held talks with the military on improving safety.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday there is 'meaningful progress' on a possible ceasefire deal that would also return some of the 55 hostages still being held in Gaza, but said it was 'too early to hope'.
Foreign minister Gideon Saar also mentioned on Tuesday that there was progress in ceasefire negotiations.
Mr Netanyahu was meeting with the Israeli negotiating team and the defence minister on Tuesday evening to discuss next steps.
In southern Gaza, at least eight people were killed while trying to obtain aid around Rafah, according to Nasser Hospital.
In northern Gaza, two men and a child were killed and at least 130 were wounded on Tuesday, according to Nader Garghoun, a spokesperson for the al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. He said most were being treated for gunshot wounds.
Witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces opened fire at around 2am (midnight BST), several hundred yards from the aid site in central Gaza. Crowds of Palestinians seeking desperately needed food often head to the sites hours before dawn, hoping to beat the crowds.
The Israeli military said it fired warning shots at people it referred to as suspects. It said they had advanced toward its troops hundreds of yards from the aid site prior to its opening hours.
Additionally, three Palestinian medics were killed in an Israeli strike Tuesday in Gaza City, according to the health ministry.
The medics from the health ministry's emergency service were responding to an Israeli attack on a house in Jaffa street in Gaza City when a second strike hit the building, the ministry said.
The Israeli military did not comment on the strike, but said over the past day the air force has hit dozens of targets belonging to Hamas' military infrastructure, including rocket launchers.
The US Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on a major Palestinian legal group for prisoners and detainees along with five other charitable entities across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, accusing them of supporting militant groups, including Hamas's military wing, under the pretence of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
Those sanctioned include Addameer, a nongovernmental organisation that was founded in 1991 and is based in the city of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian group provides free legal services to Palestinian political prisoners and detainees in Israeli custody and monitors the conditions of their confinement.
The organisation also works with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and is a member of the World Organization Against Torture.
Other entities hit with sanctions Tuesday include the Gaza-based charity Al Weam Charitable Society and its leader; the Turkish charity Filistin Vakfi and its leader; El Baraka Association for Charitable and Humanitarian Work and its leader; The Netherlands-based Israa Charitable Foundation Netherlands and two employees; and The Italy-based Associazione Benefica La Cupola d'Oro.
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BBC News
6 minutes ago
- BBC News
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says Hamas killed five workers in bus attack
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The Guardian
8 hours ago
- The Guardian
Israeli forces kill at least 60 Palestinians seeking food aid in Gaza, health officials say
Israeli forces killed at least 60 Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday, most of them as they were seeking food from a US-Israeli distribution scheme, according to local health authorities. Medical officials said at least 25 people were killed and dozens wounded as they approached a food distribution centre run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), near Netzarim in central Gaza. Later in the day, at least 14 people were killed by Israeli gunfire as they were moving towards another GHF distribution site, in Rafah, at Gaza's southern border. On Tuesday Israeli troops killed 17 Palestinians around GHF sites. The mass casualties came as the bodies of two Israel hostages were recovered from Gaza by the army and the internal security service, Shin Bet. Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, issued a statement naming one of the dead hostages as Yair Yaakov, a 59-year-old father of three who was abducted and killed by Hamas in its 7 October 2023 attack in which 1200 Israelis were killed and triggered the conflict. Netanyahu said the second hostage whose remains were recovered, could not yet be named. There are thought to be 53 Israelis hostages still in Gaza, but most of them are believed to be dead. The Gaza health authorities said on Wednesday the Palestinian death toll over the 20 months of conflict had passed 55,000. The health ministry was part of the Hamas government, but is staffed by medical professionals and its casualty statistics are generally regarded as reliable by the UN and other global organisations. In recent days, more and more of the fatalities have been associated with GHF food distribution. 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Sky News
15 hours ago
- Sky News
Palestinians killed by Israeli gunfire at US-backed aid site, officials say
At least 25 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire at a US-backed humanitarian aid site in Gaza, according to health officials. Medical officials at Shifa and al Quds hospitals say the people were killed as they approached the site - operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Dozens more were injured at the scene close to the former settlement of Netzarim, near Gaza City, medical officials from the Hamas-run territory added. It comes just a day after Gaza health officials said 17 people were killed close to another GHF site in Rafah, southern Gaza. Health officials said at least another six people were killed by Israeli gunfire as they approached a GHF site in Rafah on Wednesday. Ten other people were also killed on Wednesday by Israeli strikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to officials. The Israeli military said its forces fired warning shots towards suspects who were advancing and which it claimed posed a threat to the troops in the area of Netzarim. "This is despite warnings that the area is an active combat zone. The IDF is aware of reports regarding individuals injured. The details are under review," it added. A total of 163 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded trying to reach the handful of aid sites operated by the GHF since it began work two weeks ago after a three-month blockade, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. It comes as the US ambassador to Israel said he does not think an independent Palestinian state remains a foreign policy for the Trump administration. Mike Huckabee's comments to Bloomberg News prompted the White House to say he spoke for himself. When asked if a Palestinian state remains a US goal, Mr Huckabee said: "I don't think so." 3:59 Asked about Mr Huckabee's comments, the White House referred to remarks earlier this year by Donald Trump when he pledged an American takeover of Gaza - a proposal which was condemned globally. Rights groups, Arab states, Palestinians and the UN said such a move amounted to "ethnic cleansing".
